French luxury maison Louis Vuitton soft-opened a new store at leading travel retailer China Duty Free Group’s development in Hainan on October 27, according to multiple sources.
The Louis Vuitton Sanya boutique is located at CDF Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex in Haitang Bay, Hainan, and offers an extensive collection including the maison’s leather goods, footwear, luggage and fragrance.
The store is located in the duty-paid block of the shopping complex. It will reportedly not be duty-free. Fashion house Celine has opened a store in the same block, with other brands including Dior, Loro Piana, Damiani, and Giorgio Armani set to open.
The new Louis Vuitton store is the latest in a string of openings and developments in Hainan. China Duty Free Group (CDFG), has said it intends to transform Hainan into ‘a world-class free trade zone’ by introducing more brands to malls, and expanding its sales channels at home and abroad, by 2050.
CDFG last year unveiled the largest duty-free store located in Hainan’s capital city, Haikou International Duty Free City, which covers a total area of 930,000 square metres consisting of tax-free business, high-end offices, a high-end hotel, as well as art and tourism spaces. About 280,000 square metres have been devoted to duty-free retail.
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Meanwhile, DFS is set to launch its inaugural world-class luxury retail and entertainment destination, known as DFS Yalong Bay, also in Sanya, opening in 2026.
Since the introduction of the off-island duty-free policy in Hainan in 2011, the retail market in the region has consistently experienced an upward trend, primarily fuelled by local consumption and the growth of duty-free sales, according to a 2021 report by Savills. In 2020, despite challenges such as travel restrictions and a shift in luxury spending patterns, Hainan managed to achieve a 1.2 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales, surpassing the national average by 5.1 percentage points.