CCTV News: Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and other six departments have launched another combination of punches, taking 8 measures in three aspects to improve the convenience of overseas tourists shopping in China. The May Day holiday is coming soon, and travel platform data shows that the number of inbound travel orders has increased by 173% year-on-year.
Overseas tourists prefer to shop in China. In addition to better products and more choices, there is another point that is more convenient services.
In a department store on Nanjing Road, Shanghai, some foreign tourists are completing the "buy now and refund" procedures at the mall's tax refund counter.
At present, there are 587 departure tax refund stores in Shanghai, of which 284 stores have achieved "buy-as-you-can-eat refund". Previously, "buy now and return now" was launched in many places such as Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, and Sichuan, and the trend of foreign tourists shifting from "Chinese travel" to "Chinese shopping". Data shows that in 2024, the scale of tax refund processing in 10 pilot areas including Shanghai and Beijing increased by 22 times year-on-year, which is 18 times the year-on-year growth rate of national offshore tax refund scale.
In addition to the departure tax refund policy, in the past two years, a series of policies on entry visa-free and convenient payment have been superimposed, and "buy, buy, buy" has become a new trend in inbound travel. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that the total cost of inbound tourists in 2024 was US$94.2 billion, an increase of 77.8%. The 240-hour visa-free policy directly extends the shopping time of foreign tourists. More and more overseas tourists are changing from regular sightseeing to immersive experiences.
