During the just passed May Day holiday, overseas tourists' inbound consumption was booming, and their outbound tax refunds were highly praised. During the May Day holiday, the number and amount of payment transactions processed by UnionPay and UnionPay for overseas visitors to China increased by 244.86% and 128.04% respectively compared to the same period last year. Recently, the Ministry of Commerce and six other departments have introduced measures to further optimize the outbound tax refund policy, expand inbound consumption, and provide more good stores and goods for overseas tourists to browse, making tax refund processing more convenient. The new policy of tax refund for departure has been implemented in many places, further igniting the consumption enthusiasm of overseas tourists. Stimulating small and medium-sized consumption and increasing purchase frequency "Now, when coming to Guangzhou, the visa free transit time is 240 hours, which is very convenient. ”With the continued popularity of "China Tour", on the eve of the May Day holiday, Pakistani tourist Azim and his friends went to Guangzhou, Guangdong to visit popular attractions such as the Guangzhou Tower. Besides traveling, Azim and his friends also went shopping in the Tianhe Road commercial district. I didn't expect to get a tax refund for buying a pair of shoes, and I could get it in the store. "At a Chinese brand shoe store, Azim saw a pair of sneakers worth over 300 yuan and immediately made the payment. Under the guidance of the store staff, he clicked on the application to upload his passport information, bound his credit card, uploaded the tax refund form and invoice, and soon received a refund of more than 30 yuan in his card. At present, there are 365 departure tax refund shops in Guangzhou, among which the "buy and refund" shops have expanded to 67. According to statistics, during the May Day holiday, the number of outbound tax refund application forms issued by overseas tourists in Guangzhou increased by 125% year-on-year. The minimum refund amount has been reduced from 500 yuan to 200 yuan, which encourages overseas tourists to purchase goods with lower unit prices, such as specialties, cultural and creative products, souvenirs, etc. This will help expand the consumption scenarios covered by the outbound tax refund, promote small-scale consumption, and increase the frequency of purchases. ”Associate Professor Wang Tingting from the School of Economics and Law at Southwest University of Political Science and Law said that at the same time, raising the cash tax rebate limit to 20000 yuan means that travelers have more working capital to purchase goods, combined with flexible payment methods such as mobile payment and bank cards, to enhance the shopping experience of tourists. In early April this year, the State Administration of Taxation promoted the "buy and refund" service initiative nationwide. Lowering the tax refund threshold can stimulate small and medium-sized consumption, coupled with the "buy and refund" policy to shorten the capital occupation cycle, it is expected to form a closed loop of "consumption tax refund re consumption", effectively promoting secondary consumption and bringing more benefits to overseas tourists. Wang Tingting said that optimizing the exit tax refund policy is an important measure to implement the country's promotion of inbound consumption and boost the economy. It can effectively solve the problem of congestion and card points reported by inbound tourists, and form a combination of policies such as 240 hour transit visa free and cross-border payment facilitation, which is conducive to achieving the transformation from "tourism fever" to "consumption fever". The popularity of domestic trendy products has spread, and electronic products are favored. The video of Chongqing monorail passing through buildings is very popular and amazing. ”Filipino photography enthusiast Huang Zhenxin, who is currently traveling in Chongqing, said that she plans to come back to China in the future and visit more places. The charm of Chongqing has amazed foreign tourists, and the "city gift" and "must buy must bring" are also full of sincerity. At the Monument to the people's Liberation shopping mall of Chongbaishang Electronics, Huang Zhenxin bought a Huawei mobile phone. Market. As one of the first batch of departure tax refund stores in Shenzhen, Guangdong, Shundian Wanda Plaza store is highly favored by overseas tourists. In the first four months of this year, the tax refund business volume in our store increased by 500% compared to the same period last year. The departure tax refund policy has been continuously optimized, making overseas tourists feel full of benefits, "said store manager Wang Yali. Not long ago, Shenzhen released the list of the ninth batch of departure tax refund stores, with 72 stores including Xiaomi Home and Shundian selected, covering various categories such as electronic consumer products, fashion clothing, and home products. Data shows that in Shenzhen, the sales revenue of local brand outbound tax refunds in 2024 increased by 30.45% year-on-year. In the first quarter, the departure tax refund amount in Shenzhen increased by nearly 150% year-on-year, reaching 40% of last year's total. "From 'countrymen shopping abroad' to 'foreign tourists moving Chinese goods', the competitiveness of Chinese brands is constantly improving. ”Wang Tingting said that vigorously adding "time-honored brands", intangible cultural heritage, distinctive cultural and creative products, and high-quality domestic brands can not only meet the deep experience needs of overseas tourists for excellent traditional Chinese culture, but also promote high-end domestic products, enhance the competitiveness of domestic products in the global consumer market, and promote the upgrading from "Made in China" to "Chinese brands". Improve billing speed and simplify the operation process. "Tax refund is really fast! ”At a store in Baisheng Shopping Mall on Chunxi Road in Chengdu, Sichuan, a tourist from Singapore purchased a sun protection suit worth over 200 yuan. After the customer completes the payment, we issue a value-added tax invoice. Then log in to the departure tax refund information system, and the shopping invoice information will be automatically imported without the need for manual input; After verifying the information, the departure tax refund application form can be printed. The optimization and upgrade of the departure tax refund management system have also brought convenience to our businesses. ”Xiao Chunmei, the store manager of a certain brand store in Baisheng Mall, said. Buy and refund "allows overseas travelers to receive tax refunds during the shopping process; The optimization and improvement of the departure tax refund management system have increased the speed of document issuance and shortened the waiting time for passengers. Nowadays, from payment and billing to tax refund and verification, the convenience of departure tax refund is reflected in all aspects. It is reported that China UnionPay currently offers three types of departure tax refund modes, including UnionPay card, Cloud QuickPass APP, and self-service card number filling for tax refund. These modes have covered two scenarios: airport port tax refund and city buy and refund. UnionPay tax refund supports direct refund to overseas UnionPay cards, with the fastest real-time payment possible. At the same time, we will accelerate the promotion of multiple overseas UnionPay cooperative wallets to support scanning codes for tax refunds, simplifying the user's tax refund operation process. Recently, Shenzhen has piloted the implementation of the "one package" facilitation model for departure tax refunds, where one tax refund application corresponds to one sealed package of goods. In the shopping and consumption process, the store uses standard sealed bags for packaging and corresponds them with the tax refund application form; At the exit stage of the port, the customs will inspect the integrity of the sealed bag and release it according to regulations. Previously, when applying for a departure tax refund, the staff had to carefully inspect each item. During peak customer traffic or shopping, the waiting time would be very long. Now, as long as the sealed bag is confirmed to be intact, it can be quickly passed through, which is more convenient, "said Mr. Chen, a Hong Kong tourist from China. Wang Tingting suggests that while promoting the "buy and refund" service, efforts should continue to be made to set up centralized refund points in large commercial districts, scenic spots, and other areas to enhance the tax refund experience for tourists; Strengthen the digital and intelligent upgrading of tax refund facilities, achieve automatic acquisition and verification of invoice information through technologies such as blockchain and big models, promote the digital upgrading of the entire process of invoicing, tax refund, and payment, and further improve the convenience of tax refund. (New Society)