Duty-free shopping in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan saw a surge during the week-long Spring Festival holiday, reflecting growing consumer demand.

Sales of Hainan's 12 offshore duty-free shops totaled 2.6 billion yuan ($380 million), an increase of 21 percent compared to the previous Spring Festival holiday, and more than three times the figure recorded during the same period in 2019, reported Hainan Daily, citing data from the provincial department of commerce on Saturday.

Duty-free shopping has become an increasingly popular activity among tourists visiting Hainan, with many stores offering promotional deals and activities to attract customers.

The Haikou International Duty-Free Shopping Complex, the world's largest stand-alone duty-free shopping mall, opened in 2022, was particularly crowded with shoppers on Thursday.

"There are many coupons and products to choose from during the Spring Festival. We can also have the goods delivered to our home, which is very convenient," said tourist Wang Yulin.

China released a master plan in June 2020 to build Hainan into a globally influential and high-level free trade port by the middle of the century.

During this year's Spring Festival holiday, the province received nearly 6.4 million tourists, up 18 percent year on year, and raked in about 9.3 billion yuan in tourism revenue, according to the provincial tourism authority.

Hainan plans to increase consumer demand and attract more tourists this year, aiming to see its offshore duty-free sales surpass 80 billion yuan in 2023, according to Governor Feng Fei, who outlined this goal in a recent government work report.

(With input from Xinhua)