I love Pop Mart so much, and today I'm here to 'fulfill my dream'. This is the last stop of my 15 day trip to China, and I plan to buy some souvenirs for my family and friends. I learned from the 'Beijing Departure Tax Refund Guide' that for the same overseas tourist to purchase tax refund goods in the same tax refund store on the same day, the amount must reach 200 yuan. If they meet the conditions, they can apply for a tax refund, which is very cost-effective. "On May 16th, Spanish tourist Laura bought her favorite Pop Mart blind box in the Wangfujing commercial district in Beijing. A reporter from China Securities Journal saw many foreign tourists carrying various shopping bags like Laura in the Wangfujing commercial district. The recently held National Conference on Optimizing Exit Tax Refund Policies and Expanding Inbound Consumption Work proposed to focus on improving the coverage of tax refund stores, enhancing the attractiveness of tax refund products, and increasing the sense of gain for overseas tourists. Experts say that against the backdrop of the implementation of visa free transit policies and the upgrading of departure tax refund policies, there is an opportunity for domestic trendy products to go global, and urban commercial districts will better undertake inbound consumption. In the future, products with Chinese characteristics such as traditional Chinese medicine and health care can be included in the scope of outbound tax refunds, and domestic products can be used to attract more customers. The growth of inbound consumption is expected. Activate offline business districts. In July 2024, the policy of visa free transit will be expanded and implemented, making it more convenient for foreign tourists to travel to China. In April 2025, the departure tax rebate policy will be upgraded, with the cash rebate limit increased from 10000 yuan to 20000 yuan, and the departure tax rebate threshold lowered from 500 yuan to 200 yuan; In the same month, the "buy and refund" policy was gradually promoted, advancing the tax refund process and making tax refunds more affordable... With the effective implementation of the "toolbox" for inbound tourism policies, the business volume of outbound tax refunds has shown an increasing trend. Taking Wangfujing Group Co., Ltd. Department Store as an example, the business volume of departure tax refund in the second half of 2024 increased by 67% compared to the first half of the year; During the May Day holiday in 2025, the volume of outbound tax refund business increased by 633% year-on-year, and the volume of business from January to April increased by 147% year-on-year. The relevant person in charge of Wangfujing Group stated that the optimization and upgrading of departure tax rebate policies will help unleash the potential of inbound tourism consumption, promote "secondary consumption" and "associated consumption", promote "high net worth consumption", and provide assistance for the upgrading of the retail industry and high-quality economic development. At present, 26 stores under the Wangfujing Group have been approved to carry out outbound tax refund services nationwide, including 10 stores located in cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, and Xi'an, which have provided consumers with "buy and refund" service measures. The weather in Beijing is gradually getting hot, and sunglasses from major brands are popular among foreign guests. The volume of related outbound tax refund business is also gradually increasing. In addition, clothing, bags, and shoes launched by international brands and some domestic niche designer brands are often added to foreign guests' shopping carts. ”Liu Juan, Assistant Director of the Sales Management Department at Beijing Dong'an Market, told reporters. Liu Juan introduced that after the introduction of the new policy of departure tax refund, the departure tax refund data in Dong'an market has increased significantly. Due to the surge in business volume, Dong'an Market plans to add another set of equipment in the near future to handle outbound tax refund business. The reporter learned from the departure tax refund counters in multiple shopping malls and the departure tax refund window at Beijing Daxing Airport that it takes about 10 minutes for passengers to process their documents and apply for tax refunds. At the aforementioned counters and windows, the multilingual "Beijing Departure Tax Refund Guide" manual has become a standard feature. At Beijing Daxing Airport, a tourist named Jalal from Iran opened his suitcase and smiled as he displayed the tablet and Lu Jin handmade bedding gift box he had purchased during his trip. I have always been attracted by China's traditional culture and emerging technology. When shopping in offline commercial districts, the salesperson introduced the tax refund policy, which is equivalent to a 10% discount on the price. I bought a lot of souvenirs to take back, "Jalal told reporters. From traditional brands' jewelry, cloth shoes, tea and other specialty products, to electronic products such as smartwatches, tablets, drones, etc., domestic trendy goods have gained the favor of many foreign tourists taking advantage of the departure tax rebate policy. Luo Yao, the manager of DJI Beijing Wangfujing APM authorized experience store, said: "Foreign customers love DJI's drone products very much, among which the Mini series and Avata series are very popular, with a price range of 3000 to 6000 RMB. After the store introduced the departure tax refund service in August 2024, the consumption of foreign tourists gradually increased. Some Brazilian customers also promoted the departure tax refund service and introduced other customers to the store for consumption after returning home. ”The structure of goods related to departure tax refunds is constantly being optimized. According to Han Yuanjun, a researcher at the China Tourism Research Institute, the current departure tax refund stores mainly include department stores, electronic product stores, and cultural and creative product stores. Foreign tourists can buy both international brand goods and Chinese characteristic domestic products. The relevant departments should gradually enrich the categories of goods covered by the outbound tax refund, including traditional Chinese medicine health care, robots and other related products. The 'buy and refund' service further enhances the convenience of tax refunds, converting the RMB cash obtained by overseas travelers for tax refunds into goods and services for consumption. Currently, there is a high level of enthusiasm among domestic stores to apply to become departure tax refund stores, mainly in the 3C electronics and clothing categories. ”Liao Bo, Chief Macro Analyst of Zhejiang Securities, said. Sheng Qiuping, Deputy Minister of Commerce, previously stated that in 2024, the proportion of inbound consumption by overseas tourists to China's GDP will be about 0.5%, while the proportion of inbound consumption by major countries in the world will be between 1% and 3% of GDP, indicating a huge potential for growth in inbound consumption. Sheng Qiuping said that the overall outbound tax refund market in China is still in the cultivation period, with a relatively small number of tax refund shops, mainly concentrated in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. There are not enough tax refund shops in popular cities where overseas tourists are concentrated, which affects the ability of overseas tourists to enjoy tax refund benefits. The "Notice on Further Optimizing the Exit Tax Refund Policy and Expanding Inbound Consumption" recently issued by the Ministry of Commerce and six other departments proposes eight policy measures from three aspects: promoting the incremental expansion of tax refund stores, enriching the supply of tax refund products, and improving the level of exit tax refund services. Actively implementing measures for tax refunds upon departure, expanding stores, and improving services have become the driving force for some local governments to promote cultural and tourism consumption. According to data from the Beijing Municipal Taxation Bureau, the number of departure tax refund stores in Beijing has reached 1070, with 14 "buy and refund" pilot stores, covering 100% of major commercial districts in the city; The Shanghai tax department relies on smart tax construction, continuously optimizes and upgrades the departure tax refund system, and launches new functions such as "pre invoicing" and "invoice import"; Shenzhen has launched a convenient measure of "one package" for outbound tax refunds. Stores package and code the refunded goods, and customs do not need to open and verify them, improving the convenience and sense of gain for tourists' consumption... Next, how to further optimize the outbound tax refund policy and better release policy dividends? The South Korean military suggests that at the supply level, the layout of tourist cities and popular attractions should be combined to increase the number of departure tax refund shops and products, making cultural and creative products with Chinese characteristics a medium for promoting Chinese culture and departure tax refund services. At the service level, the tax refund process should be further simplified, tax refund outlets should be increased, and the intelligence and informatization level of tax refund services should be improved. In addition, the promotion of "buy and refund" should be accelerated to provide tourists with more options for tax refunds. (New Society)