Streamlined customs boost sales at Shanghai's tax refund shops

SHANGHAI, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- The number of tax refund shops in Shanghai has nearly doubled over the past year, thanks to convenient customs measures that have also driven a significant rise in sales, according to the Shanghai Customs and the municipal commission of commerce.

As of the end of August this year, the number of tax refund shops in Shanghai had increased from 777 at the end of last year to over 1,530, covering all 16 districts of the city. The sales of tax refund goods in the first eight months of the year saw an increase of more than 80 percent year-on-year.

The Shanghai Customs has recently introduced convenient measures for overseas travelers, namely "packaging and coding" and "self-verification."

Under these measures, tax refund shops shall conduct the packaging of tax-refundable goods in accordance with the travelers' preferences, placing the tax refund application form and the corresponding goods into separate compartments of a packaging bag. When travelers leave the country, local customs can scan the QR code on the tax refund application form to quickly verify the goods in just a few seconds. Overseas travelers can also use self-verification machines to upload relevant documents to customs.

Shanghai was one of the first cities in China to pilot tax refunds for overseas travelers. In 2024, the sales of tax refund goods in the city reached 2.37 billion yuan (about 333 million U.S. dollars), representing an 86.6 percent increase over the previous year and accounting for approximately 48 percent of China's total. ■