China's Ministry of Finance gave approval to the country's southernmost Hainan Province to increase its annual tax-free shopping quota for travelers this week.

This is part of an effort to build the tropical island into a free trade port, and help the tourism sector which has been severely affected by COVID-19.

Now Hainan has a new attraction besides its coastal scenes. For holidaymakers there is less tax to pay, and so more things to buy.

Effective from July 1, the tax-free shopping quota in Hainan is raised to 100,000 yuan or about 14,000 U.S. dollars per person each year from the current 30,000 yuan.

The current tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product will be lifted and the number of categories with a single-purchase quantity limit will be significantly reduced, according to the statement.

The duty-free shopping policy was implemented in April 2011 and has been improved and enlarged since then, with the sales of offshore duty-free shopping hitting 53.8 billion yuan and the number of buyers reaching 16.31 million by the end of 2019.