Haikou Customs released statistics on February 9 showing that since the adjustment of the offshore duty-free policy on November 1, 2025, a total of 100 days had passed as of February 8, 2026. During this period, the value of offshore duty-free shopping supervised by Haikou Customs reached RMB 11.585 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 14.71%. As the “main force” of duty-free consumption, beauty and fragrance products have consistently accounted for more than 50% of total offshore duty-free sales across all categories.
According to the new policy, island residents who have a record of leaving the island within a natural year are allowed to purchase, without limit on the number of transactions within that same year, 15 categories of “buy-and-collect immediately” products, including cosmetics, perfumes, apparel, and bags. For the first time, departing international travelers have also been included as eligible beneficiaries of the offshore duty-free policy. The amount they spend on offshore duty-free goods will count toward their annual RMB 100,000 duty-free shopping quota. Beauty and fragrance products, digital devices, and duty-free alcoholic beverages have become the most popular categories.
In addition, a major breakthrough of the new policy is that six categories of domestically produced goods—including apparel, silk scarves, coffee, and tea—are now permitted to be sold in offshore duty-free stores, enjoying VAT and consumption tax refunds or exemptions. High-quality domestic brands can now reach both domestic and international travelers at more competitive prices through the offshore duty-free channel. Major duty-free stores across the island have quickly upgraded their shelves, and newly established domestic brand sections have seen continuous customer traffic.
It is also worth noting that in recent years, Hainan Province has intensively introduced policies to support the development of the cosmetics industry. In 2025 alone, according to statistics compiled by CBO, Hainan released no fewer than six key policies. These include the “Implementation Plan for Deepening the Reform of Drug, Medical Device and Cosmetics Regulation to Promote High-Quality Development of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Hainan Province,” which, for the first time at the provincial strategic level, explicitly encourages leveraging local tropical plant and animal resources to support the R&D of new cosmetic ingredients. There are also supporting policies related to the “island-wide customs closure operation” of the Hainan Free Trade Port, under which, after the customs closure, import tariffs on skincare products, other beauty products, perfumes, and eau de cologne will be exempted.
