HAIKOU, April 21 (Xinhua) -- Offshore duty-free shops on China's island province of Hainan received a total of 44.52 billion yuan (about 6.64 billion U.S. dollars) in sales in the past eight years, according to local customs.

Official data showed that the duty-free shops received over 13.67 million customers and sold over 57.87 million items over the same period since the province was permitted to run a pilot offshore duty-free program in April 2011.

In January this year, Hainan opened two new offshore duty-free shops in Haikou and Qionghai, adding to the previous two in Haikou and Sanya.

Since December 2018, the duty-free shopping quota in Hainan was also raised to 30,000 yuan per year from the previous 16,000 yuan, without limits on the number of purchases.

In April 2011, the State Council gave Hainan permission to run a pilot offshore duty-free program in an effort to make the island a world-class tourist destination.