Hainan's Duty-Free Zone Effect in China
Save Up to 2.3 Million Won on 40g of Gold
As the entire Hainan Province in China has been transformed into a duty-free zone, shopping tourism centered on gold jewelry is rapidly spreading. With significant price differences compared to the mainland, combined with various discount benefits, Hainan is emerging as a "gold shopping mecca."
On December 22 (local time), Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily reported that shopping demand, especially for gold jewelry, has surged since Hainan Province was designated as a duty-free zone across its entire territory on December 18.
Recently, on Chinese social networking services (SNS), hashtags such as "Save 10,000 yuan on Hainan gold jewelry" and "Buy 40g of gold for the price of 34g in Hainan" have ranked high in search terms, drawing significant attention. This is because gold, which is highly popular as an investment vehicle, can be purchased in Hainan at much lower prices than on the mainland.
On the first day of the duty-free policy, the price per gram of 40g gold jewelry sold in Hainan was 1,184 yuan, which was 169 yuan (about 36,000 won) per gram lower than the price on the Chinese mainland (1,353 yuan) on the same day. If you purchase 40g, which is similar in weight to 10 don in Korea, you can save about 6,760 yuan, or approximately 1.4 million won, based on the simple price difference alone.
A view of a golf course on Hainan Island, China. Unrelated to the article content. The Asia Business Daily DB
When factoring in duty-free shop discounts and local government support, the actual price becomes even lower. A representative from the world's largest CDF duty-free store located in Haikou, Hainan, explained, "If you spend over 10,000 yuan, you get a 500-yuan discount, and there is an additional discount for purchasing 40g of gold." They added, "By also using local government discount coupons, you can save up to 11,160 yuan (about 2,348,500 won)."
Amid the gold shopping craze, the overall retail sector in Hainan is also becoming more vibrant. On the first day of the duty-free policy, a large supermarket in Haikou saw Malaysian durians, which had become more competitively priced due to the duty-free effect, sell out quickly, demonstrating strong consumer demand.
Tourism demand within China for Hainan is also noticeably increasing. Ahead of the New Year holiday, the number of domestic flight bookings to Hainan from within China surpassed 720,000, representing a more than 10% increase compared to the previous year.
Meanwhile, with the implementation of the "customs closure" (fengguan) policy across Hainan Province, the number of duty-free items has greatly expanded from around 1,900 to over 6,600. In particular, as imported equipment is now duty-free, there is significant potential for Hainan to develop into a semiconductor industry base that utilizes foreign-made equipment. The United Daily News of Taiwan projected, "The Hainan Free Trade Port could become the next Shenzhen 2.0."
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