Duty-free market has enormous potential, say experts

A duty-free market selling Taiwan’s commodities will play a bigger role in boosting Pingtan’s tourism and economy in the future, said insiders.

Situated near a marine passenger terminal at Ao’qian town, the market has combined advantages of proximity, policies and tourism resources.

As the second market on the Chinese mainland which has been approved to sell Taiwan’s commodities, it allows a 6,000-yuan ($980) tax-free purchase cap for every customer.

During the seven-day National Day Holiday, about 120,000 people visited the market; and 21,258 of them spent a total of 2.4 million yuan.

The holidays led to a boom in sales for merchants, with Lin Mingkuan, a store owner at the market, saying that he sold more than 2,000 boxes of snacks in seven days, with a single day’s revenue of up to 5,000 yuan.

His business, however, cooled off right away in the wake of the holidays, said Lin.

The biggest hurdles at present are catering and traffic, said experts.

There have been no dining facilities near the market, which means people have to return back to the downtown area to have their meals. What’s more, there is only a shuttle bus linking the market to the urban district.

The market has pledged to tackle the problems soon, according to Chen Hongchun, director of the market’s business attraction department.

Many pundits are still bullish about the market’s future.

The market will boost cross-Straits cultural and trade communications, said Yuan Shuqi, a professor with the tourism school of Fujian Normal University.

The market is only 68 nautical kilometers away from Taiwan. And, with the two sea routes, it takes only 2.5 hours from Pingtan to Taichung, and no more than 3 hours to Taipei, which will likely make Pingtan a transit hub between the mainland and Taiwan, he added.

Yuan suggested that the market can develop itself as a new tourism destination in Pingtan and try to mix shopping and culture in an attempt to create a more pleasant experience for tourists.

In addition, Pingtan can learn from the experience of successful business modes from other duty-free areas such as the Haitang Bay duty-free shopping center in Sanya, Hainan province and the Lotte online duty-free store, said Yuan.

The Haitang Bay duty-free mall is the world’s largest duty-free store with around 300 world-class brands, while Lotte is the first Chinese duty-free online store that supports Alipay, China’s most popular online payment system.

Yuan noted that the duty-free market in Pingtan should increase its inventory and test the waters of online outlets.

According to Chen Hongchun, the market will become a complex with functions of shopping, leisure, tourism and culture.

To enhance the Taiwan touches, it will bring in more of Taiwan’s top brands and adopt Taiwan’s architectural style in the design of the market, and many of the streets and buildings at the core area will be named after their Taiwanese counterparts.

The dining will soon no longer be a problem, as the market will open a food court. It will also build a sightseeing gallery by the end of October in order to lure more tourists, he said.