HAIKOU, Feb. 18 -- South China's island province of Hainan reported a total of 2.49 billion yuan (about 346.1 million U.S. dollars) of offshore duty-free sales during the eight-day Spring Festival holiday, a year-on-year increase of nearly 60 percent, said Haikou Customs.

The number of duty-free shoppers in Hainan from Feb. 10 to 17 reached 297,700, up nearly 90 percent from last year's Spring Festival holiday. Each shopper spent an average of 8,358 yuan, Haikou customs said.

To boost duty-free consumption during the Spring Festival, the cities of Haikou and Sanya distributed duty-free shopping vouchers totaling nearly 30 million yuan to customers.

In 2023, Haikou Customs recorded a total of 43.76 billion yuan of offshore duty-free sales.