The departure tax refund service has been upgraded. On August 29, China's first pilot "one-click tax refund" service for departing travelers was launched in Hangzhou, enabling refunds to be received in as little as two minutes. This initiative streamlines procedures while enhancing consumer experience, providing a significant boost to the sustained growth of inbound consumption.

Departure tax refund policy serves as a driver for stimulating consumption. In recent years, China's inbound tourism market has demonstrated remarkable vitality. By offering tangible benefits, departure tax refunds help convert inbound traffic into increased spending, further enlarging inbound consumption. In April, the "instant tax refund upon purchase" policy for departures expanded nationwide from its initial pilot, facilitating inbound consumption, thus effectively energizing the market. According to data, in the first half of this year, China has boasted over 7,200 departure tax refund stores. The number of people receiving tax refunds has surged by 186% year-on-year (YoY), while sales of tax refund goods and total refund amounts respectively rose by 94.6% YoY and 93.2% YoY.

Effective implementation of the favorable policy is also essential. With the "instant tax refund upon purchase" policy, overseas travelers can receive immediate tax refunds at participating stores by providing credit card pre-authorization. In practice, however, merchants must manually input passport details as the invoice header and enter product code, price, quantity, and amount for each item, which limits the efficiency of tax refunds. The newly launched "one-click tax refund" service features full-chain digitization, including traveler self-application, merchant one-click invoicing, and automated business processes. It truly realizes instant refunds at the point of sale. Regions with necessary conditions are encouraged to draw on Hangzhou's experience by introducing services such as real-time mobile tax declaration, electronic invoice data sharing, and additional payment options for tax refunds, further enhancing convenience. They may also explore cross-regional and cross-agency cooperation by establishing offline tax refund points capable of cross-region processing, thereby continually improving tax refund efficiency.

With the shift from "traveling in China" to "shopping in China", inbound consumption is poised for significant growth. To maximize the benefits of the departure tax refund policy, local governments should advance tax refund facilitation reforms in line with national measures, fostering a friendly, efficient, and convenient environment for tourism consumption with innovative services. In areas popular with international visitors, such as scenic spots and cultural venues, they should encourage and guide more specialty retailers to register as departure tax refund stores. Meanwhile, retailers are encouraged to leverage the favorable policies, design scenario-based layouts along popular tourist routes, and offer high-quality products. Through providing distinctive cultural experiences and language services, they can establish a unique competitive edge.

In summary, the optimized departure tax refund policy is set to become an important driver force for boosting inbound consumption, truly transforming the "travel boom" into a "consumption boom".