HAIKOU, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Sales of offshore duty-free shops in south China's island province of Hainan exceeded 12 billion yuan (about 1.8 billion U.S. dollars) from July 1 to Oct. 31, up 214.1 percent year on year, customs data showed.

According to Haikou Customs, Hainan's offshore duty-free shops received some 1.78 million customers and sold 12.87 million duty-free products during the period, up 58.8 percent and 139.7 percent year on year, respectively.

The top three goods in terms of sales volume were cosmetics, watches and jewelry, accounting for 72.8 percent of the total duty-free sales in the same period.

Starting from July 1, Hainan increased its annual tax-free shopping quota from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person.

The range of duty-free goods has also expanded from 38 categories to 45, while the previous tax-free limit of 8,000 yuan for a single product has been lifted.