Customers shop at the Haikou International Duty Free City in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province, on December 19, 2025. On December 18, China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan Free Trade Port. Photo: VCG

In the first week after the official launch of island-wide special customs operations at the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) - from December 18 to Wednesday - imports of goods benefiting from zero tariffs exceeded 400 million yuan ($57 million), according to statistics from Hainan's Haikou Customs released on Thursday.

During the same period, duty-free goods sold to customers in the Chinese mainland through the "second line," under the policy allowing products with an added value of 30 percent or more during processing, surpassed 20 million yuan, customs data showed.

On December 18, China launched island-wide special customs operations in the Hainan FTP, the world's largest FTP by area, allowing freer entry of overseas goods, expanding zero-tariff coverage, and introducing more business-friendly measures, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Analysts and industry insiders said that the special customs operations in the Hainan FTP, marking China's stepped-up efforts in pursuing high-level opening-up, will further boost flows of cargo, capital and personnel.  

Driven by overlapping policy benefits and the momentum from the Hainan FTP's independent customs operations, the offshore duty-free consumption market in Hainan also experienced a surge in popularity, amounting to 1.1 billion yuan during the first week, up 54.9 percent year-on-year, involving 775,000 items, up 11.8 percent.

About 165,000 people, a year-on-year increase of 34.1 percent, took part in duty-free shopping, customs data showed.

A manager at the Haikou Global Premium Duty Free Plaza told the Global Times that visitor flows rose about 80 percent week-on-week after the special customs operations started, with discount zones and gold shops packed daily.

Sanya's commerce bureau said that during the first week, six days witnessed single-day sales exceeding 100 million yuan citywide. Visitor numbers topped 36,000 on December 18 at CDF Sanya International Duty-Free City, up more than 60 percent year-on-year, according to media reports.

Guo Jianmeng, director of Port Supervision at Haikou Customs, said that innovative modes such as centralized + automated auditing, drone low-altitude delivery, and tiered supervision have greatly improved efficiency across the duty-free goods supply, sales, and delivery chains, enhancing the shopping experience for domestic and overseas travelers, media reports said.

The "zero tariffs, low tax rates, and a simplified tax system" policy regarding the operation of the FTP was implemented starting from December 18.

For example, the share of zero-tariff products in the Hainan FTP will surge from 21 percent to 74 percent, while the number of tariff-free items will expand from about 1,900 to more than 6,600, covering nearly all types of production equipment and raw materials, the Office of the Hainan Free Trade Port Working Committee told the Global Times.

Zero-tariff goods processed in Hainan may be sold to customers in the mainland duty-free if their local processing generated an added value of 30 percent or more, the office said.

"Thanks to the 30 percent value-added rule, we saved 37,800 yuan in tariffs on December 18, when clearing 42 tons of Vietnamese natural latex through Xinhai Port in Haikou," Zhang Zhendong, general manager of a Hainan-based rubber processing enterprise, told the Global Times.