HAIKOU — Sales of offshore duty-free shops in South China's island province of Hainan exceeded 12 billion yuan (about $1.8 billion) from July 1 to Oct 31, up 214.1 percent year-on-year, customs data showed.

According to Haikou Customs, Hainan's offshore duty-free shops received some 1.78 million customers and sold 12.87 million duty-free products during the period, up 58.8 percent and 139.7 percent year-on-year, respectively.

The top three goods in terms of sales volume were cosmetics, watches and jewelry, accounting for 72.8 percent of the total duty-free sales in the same period.

Starting from July 1, Hainan increased its annual tax-free shopping quota from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person.

The range of duty-free goods has also expanded from 38 categories to 45, while the previous tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product has been lifted.