Shenzhen opens first downtown duty-free store

Shenzhen's first downtown duty-free shop officially opened on Tuesday, coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

Since its trial operation on Aug 23, the store has been met with enthusiasm from both locals and tourists. According to UpperHills, one of its operators managing a shopping mall in the city center, the store has seen a steady stream of visitors shopping or making inquiries over the past two days.

Spanning nearly 3,000 square meters within UpperHills-the largest one among in-city duty-free stores nationwide, the store offers a wide range of products, from beauty and skincare items to premium liquors and cutting-edge electronics.

To highlight Shenzhen's unique identity as a "City of Technology", the duty-free store showcases a variety of high-quality domestic technology brands such as iFlytek, Insta360, UBTECH, Honor and Huawei.

It also introduces a domestic skincare and beauty product line for the first time and features a skincare experience area.

This initiative is part of a new measure introduced by five Chinese ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce, to regulate the duty-free industry and boost tourism consumption, effective since last October.

Eight cities, including Shenzhen, have been authorized to establish one in-city duty-free store each. The Shenzhen store, part of this first wave, was developed collaboratively by China Duty Free Group, Shenzhen Duty Free Group, and Shum Yip Group.

According to the operators, many transactions involve overseas students and their parents preparing for studies abroad, purchasing items such as luggage, skincare products and jewelry.

The new regulations specify that in-city duty-free stores are designed for travelers, including but not limited to Chinese nationals, who are scheduled to leave the country by air or international cruise ship within 60 days.