Duty-free sales

DUTY-FREE sales in South China’s island province of Hainan reached 60.2 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) in 2021, an increase of 84 percent year on year, said the provincial department of commerce.

According to the department, the number of shoppers totaled nearly 9.7 million in 2021, with about 53.5 million items purchased, up 73 percent and 71 percent year on year, respectively. Three more duty-free shops opened last year in Hainan, raising the total number to 10. The duty-free shops host more than 720 brands in a total shopping area of 220,000 square meters.

Tourism revenue

THE country’s domestic tourism revenue is expected to reach 3.81 trillion yuan in 2022, Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, said Saturday.

A total of 3.98 billion trips are expected to be made in 2022, nearly 70 percent of that in 2019. The country’s tourism industry made a volatile recovery in 2021. Dai estimated that the number of domestic trips in 2021 was 3.43 billion, up 19 percent from 2020, and China’s domestic tourism revenue in 2021 was 3.02 trillion yuan, up 35 percent year on year.

Natural gas use

THE country’s natural gas consumption rose year on year in the first 11 months of 2021 amid efforts to fight air pollution, according to the country’s top economic planner.

Apparent consumption of natural gas increased 14.5 percent year on year to 329.26 billion cubic meters in the January-November period, the National Development and Reform Commission said. In November alone, apparent consumption of natural gas reached 31.78 billion cubic meters, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier.China has been promoting efficient, large-scale use of natural gas.