The amount is higher, there are more types, there are fewer restrictions...
Tax-free shopping Hainan scenery is better (economic focus)
Core reading
From July 1st, Hainan Islands’ tax-free shopping policy has undergone a major adjustment. In addition to the increase of the tax-free shopping quota per person per year for island travelers to 100,000 yuan, the elimination of the 8,000 yuan tax-free limit for individual products, the number of single purchases has been greatly reduced. Kind of goods.
The adjustment of the new policy will fully release the policy dividend of Hainan as China's first free trade port. In addition, around the tourist experience, Hainan will further improve the consumption and tourism market, and continue to explore for the construction of an international tourism consumption center.
On July 1, on the occasion of the promulgation of the "Overall Plan for the Construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port", the new Hainan Islands Duty Free Shopping Policy was formally implemented. Whether it is a substantial increase in the duty-free shopping quota, or the limit on the number of purchases, the abolition of the duty-free quota limit for individual products, and the substantial reduction in the number of types of commodities with a single purchase quantity limit, this adjustment is regarded as the greatest effort since the implementation of the policy Adjustment.
What new changes can Hainan's tourism bring to the island tax-free shopping policy adjustment? What are the new opportunities for the construction of an international tourism consumer center when the Hainan Free Trade Port has been implemented and the island tax exemption policy has been implemented for nearly 10 years? The reporter conducted an interview.
Little excitement: Inconvenient to go abroad to come to Hainan "buy buy buy buy"
For those who like to go shopping abroad, it is inconvenient to go abroad during epidemic prevention and control, so shopping in Hainan has become the first choice.
Guangzhou citizen Xiao Meng took the early morning flight to Haikou on July 1st for the newly adjusted tax-free shopping policy on the outlying islands.
In a duty-free shop located in Riyue Plaza, Haikou, a high-end watch with a price of 17,000 yuan, the part that previously exceeded the 8,000 yuan limit needs to be supplemented by 50% tax rate. "Under the new policy, 17,000 yuan can be bought, saving more than 4,000 yuan, and the airfare from Guangzhou to Haikou has been earned." Xiao Meng said happily.
At 14:00 on July 1, the reporter went to the duty-free shop in Haikou Riyue Plaza. Despite the hot weather, the enthusiasm of the citizens and tourists who came to shop continued. The most lively counters are counters for electronic products such as mobile phones and tablet computers. A staff member of a popular brand counter told reporters that because of the fear of a panic buying trend today, the store specially put out a prompt of "Limit one purchase per person for mobile phone products" at the counter when stocking.
"Each person's annual purchase quota is raised from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan, and the restrictions on the number of purchases are relaxed. This policy adjustment will undoubtedly make the market a little excited." Cao Ying, director of the inspection department of Hainan Free Trade Office, said.
In fact, such little excitement had already appeared at the beginning of this year. On February 20, Hainan duty-free shops resumed business. The next day, Sanya International Duty Free City's e-commerce sales reached 44.28 million yuan, the highest single-day e-commerce sales record. In May, Hainan's duty-free products achieved sales of 1.997 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 147.9%.
"Adjusting the tax-free shopping policy on outlying islands can promote the quality and efficiency of Hainan's tourism, from eating and living to occupy the bulk, to shifting to shopping and entertainment, and attracting the return of overseas consumption." Liu Feng, director of the Research Center for Free Trade Port with Chinese Characteristics at Hainan Normal University .
Great efforts: the exemption of the tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product
In addition to the annual tax-free shopping quota of 100,000 yuan, among the various measures of this relaxation, the most noticeable is the 8,000 yuan tax-free limit for a single product.
Statistics show that the number of shoppers in Hainan's tax-free year increased from 48.36 million in 2011 to 3.84 million in 2019. Annual sales increased steadily from 986 million in 2011 to 13.6 billion in 2019. In 2019, the number and sales amount of Hainan Islands' duty-free goods reached a record high, with a year-on-year growth of more than 30%. Hainan’s foreign trade import and export was 90.59 billion yuan, up 6.8% year-on-year, and consumer goods became Hainan’s number one imported commodity.
"Of the tourists to Sanya, 7 out of 10 people usually go to Sanya International Duty Free City to "check in"." Su Yi, deputy general manager of Duty Free Shops in Sanya City, China Duty Free (Group) Co., Ltd. said that this proportion is sufficient for outlying islands Duty-free shopping boosts tourism. As the only company that franchise the duty-free shopping on islands, China Free Group has also ranked fourth in the global industry ranking from 12th place 7 years ago.
However, if compared with Japan and South Korea, Hainan still has a clear gap. Statistics show that in 2019, Chinese tourists went to South Korea for tax-free consumption of up to 105.8 billion yuan, of which ordinary tourists spent 37 billion yuan. "The Hainan Islands' tax-free sales of more than 10 billion yuan a year are actually not high." Su Yi believes that the attraction of the island's tax-free shopping to most tourists has not yet reached "to come to Hainan for the purpose of tax-free shopping."
Liu Feng suggested that you can increase the duty-free shopping points in the urban area, use information-based methods to achieve flexible and effective control, from the current "management and management of goods" to "management regardless of goods", "pre-regulation" into "Supervision during and after the event" provides a more convenient and user-friendly shopping experience.
According to Cao Ying, at present, Hainan is striving for the first step to introduce cross-border e-commerce for operation, gradually expanding from online shopping to offline physical stores. Currently, cross-border e-commerce can operate more than 1,000 kinds of goods, basically Cover the daily needs of residents.
Shortcomings: tourism supporting facilities still need to be improved
In the face of the problems that some domestic tourists have reflected on the low cost performance of Hainan’s travel experience, and the price and accommodation experience have to be improved, Liu Feng believes that “in terms of consumption environment, Hainan still has some problems compared with some developed tourism areas. A small gap. But this is a systematic project, and Hainan is stepping up to make up for the shortcomings."
“In the past, many tourists complained about the “high-priced rooms” of Sanya hotels. In fact, the hotel chains adopted a unified global pricing strategy. Compared with Southeast Asia, our overall house prices are not much different, mainly because our comprehensive prices lead to changes in tourism costs. It’s high, and the seasonal changes are obvious, and the price changes greatly,” said Tang Sixian, a researcher at the Sanya City Tourism Bureau.
In Liu Feng's view, the adjustment of the island's tax-free shopping policy is only a breakthrough in promoting Hainan's construction of an international tourism consumer center. "Whether the international tourism consumption center can be built depends on Hainan's own business environment and tourism consumption environment."
At present, the Haikou International Duty Free City project with a total investment of more than 10 billion yuan is accelerating its construction. After its completion, the total area will reach 200,000 square meters, which is three times that of Sanya International Duty Free City. Iconic project in the center.
Zhou Ting, Dean of Youke Research Institute, believes that the implementation of the island tax exemption policy is very important for the construction of Hainan International Tourism Island. As China's first free trade port, Hainan can try to open up to a greater extent and form a high-quality consumer goods market to attract tourists to Hainan for consumption. At the same time, various recreational activities and services on the island must also be fully developed in order to truly become an international tourism consumption center.