Policy dividends boost economic vitality in Sanya

Shoppers throng to a duty-free store in Sanya on Feb 17 [Photo/VCG]

The Hainan Free Trade Port officially launched its island-wide special customs operations on Dec 18, 2025 — and as a window for the development of the Hainan FTP, Sanya is buzzing with unprecedented vitality boosted by the FTP policy.

Overall, the combination of the special customs operations and new offshore duty-free policies has sparked what's been described as a "golden boom" in Sanya's duty-free shopping market.

According to data from the Sanya municipal bureau of commerce, from Dec 18, 2025 to March 19, 2026, the city's offshore duty-free sales hit nearly 10.9 billion yuan ($1.57 billion), a whopping 52.3 percent increase compared with the previous year. There were more than 10.22 million tourist visits, up some 23.5 percent year-on-year.

During the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, total sales at the city's four duty-free stores reached 1.96 billion yuan, up 23.7 percent over the same period of last year.

Daily sales topped 200 million yuan, with single-day sales surpassing that benchmark level for seven consecutive days — setting a record for Spring Festival holiday sales.

On Feb 17 — the first day of the Chinese New Year — single-day sales reached 204 million yuan, smashing all previous records.

What's more, the benefits of the special customs operations have extended beyond tourists, and also are delivered to local residents.

Sanya opened its first daily consumer goods duty-free shop on Feb 11, implementing a zero-tariff policy for imported goods for residents on the island.

From its opening to March 19, the store's sales topped 3.28 million yuan, with duty-free sales around 1.45 million yuan — some 44.2 percent of the total.

Since the launch of special customs operations in the Hainan FTP, key policies regarding zero tariffs and value-added processing have been rolled out quickly, providing a significant boost to Sanya's industrial development.

By March 17 in the first quarter, six companies had completed 17 zero-tariff import transactions valued at more than 23.6 million yuan. These imports were mainly for non-production, one-time purchases such as scientific and medical equipment, involving entities like medical and research institutions and processing trade companies.

Meanwhile, four new companies were approved for registration, bringing the total number of applicants to 22, with eight approvals granted and four already completing their first transactions.

Overall, the surge in export-oriented economy is widely said to be the standout achievement of the first 100 days of special customs operations in Sanya. For the first time, the city's foreign trade dependency ratio bettered the provincial average, reflecting a significant increase in openness.

In December 2025, the value of import and export goods totaled 4.54 billion yuan, an 83.5 percent increase year-on-year. Service imports and exports reached around 1.2 billion yuan, up 90.33 percent.

Goods imports and exports in the whole year amounted to more than 33.2 billion yuan — up 7.8 percent — and service imports and exports reached over 12.7 billion yuan, up 50.26 percent. The trade-to-GDP ratio is 44.8 percent.

From January to February in 2026, the value of imports and exports in goods leaped to 6 billion yuan, up 49.6 percent. The imports and exports in service trade generated more than 2.7 billion yuan, up 35.12 percent. The actual foreign investment amounted to 220 million yuan, a 7.24 percent growth year-on-year.