Hainan'S New "Holy Land": Duty Free Shop?

Like the hot summer weather in Hainan, there are duty-free shops all over Hainan.

In late August, the shopping guide of CPB at Haikou Meilan Airport told the reporter of 21st century economic report that since the summer vacation, they can't even take time to eat at the counter every day. Tourists who come to buy fragrance products have been in an endless stream. Popular lipsticks have been out of stock for a long time, and a large number of people have come to buy them Sweepers - it's not uncommon for a single person to buy tens of thousands of goods - make people suspect that their identity may be a professional agent.

On June 29, the Ministry of finance, the General Administration of customs and the State Administration of Taxation issued the announcement on the tax-free shopping policy of Hainan Island passengers (hereinafter referred to as the announcement), which has aroused widespread concern and heated discussion.

According to the announcement, the amount of duty-free shopping per person per year is 100000 yuan, unlimited times; the types of duty-free goods are expanded, and seven types of consumer goods such as electronic consumer products are increased; the single purchase quantity of cosmetics, mobile phones and alcohol products is limited; the part of goods purchased by passengers exceeding the duty-free limit and limit shall be subject to import tax in accordance with the regulations; and there is duty-free distribution Qualified business entities can participate in duty-free operation of Hainan Islands according to regulations. It will be implemented from July 1, 2020.

Compared with the previous policy, the changes of the new policy are mainly reflected in: first, the tax-free shopping quota increased from 30000 yuan per person to 100000 yuan per person per year. Second, the number of duty-free commodities on the islands has increased from 38 to 45. The third is to cancel the tax-free limit of 8000 yuan for a single commodity. Fourth, we should focus on quota management, and greatly reduce the types of goods that are limited by the quantity of a single purchase. Fifthly, moderate competition should be encouraged, and all business entities with tax-free product distribution qualification can equally participate in the duty-free operation of Hainan Island. In the six aspects of smuggling and selling, it is clear that the legal responsibility of enterprises to participate in smuggling and selling is to strengthen the supervision of individuals.

Under the strong stimulus, according to the public data, from July 1 to August 18, the sales of four duty-free shops in Hainan province increased by 2.5 times on a year-on-year basis, with an average daily sales of more than 100 million yuan (RMB 5 billion yuan for 49 days); the number of shoppers reached 740000, with a year-on-year increase of 70%; and the number of shopping pieces was 4.58 million, a year-on-year increase of 1.5 times.

buy whatever you want

Ms. Ma (not her real name) from Guangzhou used to travel abroad in the past few years, the most indispensable link was shopping.

"It's very attractive to see Hainan's new tax-free policy. If you go to Hainan to buy, you don't have to go abroad. You can avoid the impact of the epidemic." Ma told the 21st century economic reporter.

"For those of us who only want to buy and buy abroad, with the introduction of the new tax-free policy in Hainan, we have become the biggest beneficiary. However, there are a lot of people in Sanya Haitang Bay International duty-free city. There are long lines in front of the doors of major brands such as Gucci and Chanel. When they go to Haitang Bay International duty-free city in mid August, there are more than 20 people in front of each store. Luxury stores have the effect of shopping in the vegetable market. However, fragrance and chemical products are really cheap. Most of them have a 15% discount on three items. There are many duty-free shops with preferential prices for sets. Many popular brands have been sold out. Compared with bags, the prices abroad are more cost-effective. Two weeks before I went to Hainan, I consulted relevant strategies on major websites, compared prices, and calculated them on the official app of China immunity and exemption How to stack all kinds of coupons. " Ms. Ma told reporters.

On June 25, 2020, tourists queue up in Haikou duty-free shop in Haikou, Hainan. Picture vision China

After the epidemic, luxury goods have become the biggest winner. Lvci, chanel and other parts of the market rose. As usual, the price hikes have failed to dampen the enthusiasm of Chinese consumers. Instead, they will buy more in order to avoid a new round of price increases. Although the brand rhetoric is to balance global market prices, the epidemic has led to rising supply chain costs. But in fact, when the Chinese who can most buy luxury goods are "circled" at home, brands are bound to consider taking advantage of this opportunity to maintain profits in the mainland market.

At the same time, the proportion of shopping trips in the total number of passengers on the outlying islands has also increased significantly.

In July, there were about 1.6 million passengers from the airport and seaport ports of Hainan Province. Among them, 467000 people bought duty-free goods in duty-free shops, accounting for 29% of the total number of passengers on the island, more than doubled year-on-year. In addition, the consumption of duty-free shopping in Hainan Islands also showed three highlights: the popularity of new types of duty-free goods, the significant growth of consumption of duty-free goods with a unit price of more than 8000 yuan, and a substantial increase in the number of tax-free goods purchased.

Hainan Island tax-free policy has been implemented since 2011, and has been adjusted and improved five times. This year's adjustment has greatly promoted the economy of Hainan Province. In addition to providing a more convenient and preferential shopping experience, it has also spawned the growth of tax-free concept stocks.

"Haidai" return

There is no doubt that the introduction of the new tax-free policy on Hainan Islands is a good news for the vast number of consumers, but it can not be denied that it also gave birth to a new generation of "Haidai" (from overseas purchasing to Hainan duty-free goods purchasing).

According to the reporter of the 21st century economic report, many agents who spend years on social platforms such as xiaohongshu and Weibo have changed from Japanese and Korean agents to full-time Hainan agents.

Ms. mai (pseudonym) told the 21st century economic report: "in the past, I used to buy low-cost air tickets all the year round, fly back and forth to Japan, and then purchase and send some items on behalf of others. In this way, I covered the travel expenses and earned some price differences. However, this year's situation is too special, not to mention the discount ticket is not good, it is difficult to buy and leave the country, and it is really unrealistic to isolate the round-trip for 14 days. However, some customers accumulated in the past still exist for a long time. In order to serve these customers, Hainan duty-free shop has become the first choice of peers. The most economical way is to buy tickets and reuse them. Now, you can still order duty-free goods online in outlying islands. "

How fragrant is the new tax-free policy for Hainan's outlying islands?

Take Apple mobile phone as an example. The price of the highest configured iPhone 11 Pro Max 512gb on Apple's official website is 12699 yuan, while the price of Hainan duty-free shop is only 10210 yuan. In Hainan to buy the mobile phone can save 2489 yuan, equivalent to a 20% discount.

Moreover, Hainan tax-free concessions are higher than those of Hong Kong banks. The free price of the iPhone 11 Pro Max 256gb in Hainan is 8625 yuan, and the price of the same phone on Apple's official website is 10899 yuan, while the price of the phone in Hong Kong is about 9845 yuan. In other words, the duty-free price of the mobile phone in Hainan is 1200 yuan lower than that of the Hong Kong version.

With such a favorable price advantage, portable electronic products such as mobile phones and tablet computers have become the most popular new categories of duty-free products, with sales accounting for 95% of the total sales of new categories.

In terms of daily chemical cosmetics, the price of Estee Lauder small brown bottle with 100ml is 624 yuan, while the price of the latest 50ml bottle on the official website is 900 yuan. In addition, the discount range is very considerable. In addition, all kinds of collection fragrance sets specially provided by the airport have also become the focus of the rush purchase.

At present, Hainan Island duty-free shops also open online shopping function. Within 180 days on the outlying island, passengers can continue to shop on the online platform, covering skin care, cosmetics, fragrances, watches, etc. Online purchase also enjoy preferential prices, and the number of supplementary purchase is unlimited, the total amount is limited to 30000, and the goods can be sent home by parcel after placing an order.

The reporter of 21st century economic report found that the supplementary purchase function has been recognized by many consumers, and many netizens have launched a shopping list. It is not only economical, but also convenient, and the supplementary purchase function has become one of the magic weapons of Hainan Island tax-free policy to attract customers.

risk

For the purpose of saving money or making money, it is not uncommon for tourists to buy round-trip tickets and air tickets in order to go to the duty-free shops of Meilan Airport in Haikou, duty-free shops in Riyue square in Haikou, Boao duty-free shops in Qionghai and Haitangwan duty-free shops in Sanya.

However, many tourists have found that Hainan is not completely away from the "tax-free paradise". Some consumers reported that since the implementation of the new tax-free policy in Hainan, there are still some problems, such as the insufficient number of brands, the high price of individual commodities and the lack of competitiveness, the long queuing time of individual brand stores, and the need to improve the service quality. In addition, there is still a gap between the supply speed of the former and the duty-free stores in Hainan and Japan.

"In fact, the luxury bags bought by overseas agents have been discounted this year, because the epidemic situation there is more serious, and the online sales channels of stores are limited. Although we buy in Hainan more quickly, the price is certainly not as good as that of overseas agents." A shopping guide said to reporters in the duty-free shop.

However, it is worth mentioning that the professional "purchasing agent" will be hit. Article 17 of the measures of the customs of the people's Republic of China on the supervision of duty-free shopping of Hainan Island passengers stipulates that "the purchase of duty-free goods for the purpose of profit-making or resale of the purchased duty-free goods in the domestic market" shall be handled by the customs in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, and shall not enjoy the tax-free shopping policy on outlying islands for three years from the date of the decision of the customs, and may comply with the relevant regulations Must be included in the relevant credit records. At the same time, those who, in violation of the provisions of the measures, organize or take advantage of the qualifications and quota of others to purchase duty-free goods from outlying islands for illegal benefits, constitute a violation of the customs supervision regulations or smuggling acts, shall be dealt with by the customs in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Customs Law of the people's Republic of China and the regulations of the people's Republic of China on the implementation of administrative penalties by the customs; if a crime is constituted, it shall also be dealt with in accordance with the law give criminal sanctions.

Reporter observation | domestic duty-free shops can "reverse the wind"?