CCTV News: On April 27, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance and other six other departments issued the "Notice on Further Optimizing the Departure Tax Refund Policy to Expand Inbound Consumption", which proposed 8 specific measures in three aspects: promoting the incremental expansion of departure tax refund stores, enriching the supply of departure tax refund products, and improving the level of departure tax refund services.

Expand inbound consumption and promote more "domestic trendy products" to the world

The notice proposes to lower the starting point of the departure tax refund. If the amount of tax refund items purchased by overseas tourists in the same store reaches RMB 200 and meets other relevant regulations, they can apply for a departure tax refund. A relevant official from the Ministry of Commerce said that it will accelerate the implementation of policies, continuously improve the quality and level of departure tax refund services, and inject new impetus into boosting consumption. Sheng Qiuping, Vice Minister of Commerce: "According to my country's value-added tax level, the tax refund rate for general commodities reaches 11%, which is equivalent to an additional 10% discount. Departure tax refund not only brings benefits to overseas tourists, but also an important channel for domestic goods and culture to go abroad." Data shows that in 2024, China received 26.94 million foreign tourists, an increase of 96% year-on-year; the total cost of inbound tourists was US$94.2 billion, an increase of 77.8%.

A year-on-year increase of 40.2%, which is the increase in inbound foreign tourists in the first quarter of this year. At present, my country has implemented unilateral visa-free policies for 38 countries, implemented transit visa-free policies for 54 countries, and extended the residence time to 240 hours, and introduced a series of entry facilitation policies.

Shanghai: Sales of departure tax refund products in the first quarter increased by 85% year-on-year

Since this year, the number of foreign tourists in Shanghai has continued to increase. Some of them like Chinese culture and some come for Chinese food. The newly released "buy now and refund" policy has transformed "Chinese travel" into "Chinese shopping", continuing to attract foreign consumption. Foreign tourists said: "I like shopping, and I also like Chinese food and Chinese clothing brands very much. This is a very good policy because I can enjoy my trip to China better, and of course I will buy more things."

Beijing: The total amount of departure tax refund application form in the first quarter hit a record high in the same period in the same period in the first quarter of this year

In the first quarter of this year, the total amount of departure tax refund application form in the same period in the same period in the same period in Beijing was about 240 million yuan, a record high in the same period in the same period. This year, Beijing Customs issued the "Ten Measures on Promoting Inbound Tourism and Consumption", encouraging and guiding more merchants to become tax refund stores for departures and enriching the supply of goods for inbound tourists to shop and consume in Beijing. Three months after the measures were introduced, the consumption potential of inbound tourism has been further released.