China's new batch of port-of-entry duty-free shops to boost inbound consumption

China is set to significantly expand its duty-free retail network, offering travelers more opportunities to shop as cross-border tourism rebounds.

Five government departments, including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce, recently announced the establishment of 41 new port-of-entry duty-free stores at border entry points, alongside continued operations at 11 existing locations, including Haikou Meilan International Airport in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province.

Foreign visitors try on sunglasses at Tianjin's first downtown duty-free shop in north China's Tianjin Municipality. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

The new stores will be located at airports, seaports and land border crossings in multiple regions. These include central China's Hubei, Hunan, and Henan provinces, southeast China's Fujian Province, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, northeast China's Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province, southwest China's Sichuan and Guizhou provinces, east China's Shandong and Zhejiang provinces, as well as east China's Shanghai Municipality.

Key airport locations include Wuhan Tianhe International Airport in Wuhan, Hubei Province, Changsha Huanghua International Airport in Changsha, Hunan Province, and Harbin Taiping International Airport in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, among others.

Nine duty-free stores at seaports will serve travelers on international cruise ships and ferries, while 12 land-border stores will cater to travelers entering China via major overland crossings such as Shenzhen Bay Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Manzhouli highway port in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, and the Suifenhe highway port in Suifenhe, Heilongjiang Province.

Analysts say the expansion represents more than simply "opening new stores," but rather a strategic move to optimize supply, stimulate consumption, and integrate duty-free retail into national tourism and transport networks.

The new stores address gaps in regions that previously lacked duty-free options and offer a more networked, "corridor-style" layout rather than isolated locations, according to Hong Yong, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

"In recent years, the government's continuous support for the expansion of the duty-free sector represents an effort to use duty-free consumption as a structural tool to stabilize foreign trade, boost domestic demand, and encourage the repatriation of consumer spending," Hong said.

Whether through the earlier expansion of city-based duty-free shops or the newly approved 41 port-of-entry stores, the goal is to optimize regulatory frameworks, enhance the appeal of duty-free shopping to overseas consumers, and strengthen capacity to meet domestic demand for high-quality goods, according to Hong.

In the context of a complex and ever-changing external environment, the duty-free system has been given enhanced policy functions, serving both the country's high-standard opening-up and its efforts to boost domestic consumption while stabilizing expectations.

Analysts pointed out that the distribution of the new port-of-entry duty-free stores aligns with growing demand for cross-border travel.

Traveling to China has become increasingly popular among overseas travelers. The latest data from the National Immigration Administration show that in 2025, China recorded 30.08 million visa-free entries, accounting for 73.1 percent of the total number of foreign entries, up 49.5 percent year on year.

Port-of-entry duty-free stores provide these overseas visitors with convenient shopping venues and have the potential to further expand inbound consumption.

The newly expanded duty-free network is also expected to benefit the development of multiple industries, from tourism and logistics to cultural and creative products, and facilitate coordinated regional development.

"A single duty-free store can extend its influence to surrounding commercial sectors, logistics, warehousing, supply chains, and brand operations, driving coordinated development across related industries and helping local areas form a more complete port-economy ecosystem," Hong said.

The duty-free stores also create more job opportunities and inject momentum into local economic development, he added.

In the long run, the new stores will drive regional development.

Expanding port-of-entry duty-free shops helps boost consumption in central, western and border regions, enhancing the ability of port cities to concentrate key resources and promoting coordinated flows of people, goods and consumer spending, he noted.

"Policies like this combine the benefits of opening-up with coordinated regional development, using institutional innovation to unlock new consumption potential and expand opportunities for industrial growth," he said.