New tax refund policy boosts May Day holiday shopping in Shanghai

The latest tax refund policy boosted sales in Shanghai during the five-day May Day holiday, with the city's departure tax refund sales increasing 1.5 times year-on-year and the amount of tax refunds expanding 1.7 times year-on-year, according to the Shanghai Municipal Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration.

The nation has revised its policy and rolled out a slew of measures to further facilitate tax refunds and boost consumption since April, including optimizing filing requirements and levels for tax refund stores, lowering the amount of tax refundable items, and increasing the cash refund limits.

Particularly, the new policy lowered the starting point for tax refunds from 500 yuan ($69.18) to 200 yuan, attracting a large number of traditional food companies and time-honored brands to participate.

Lu Yanqing, head of the city's time-honored brand Shao Wan Sheng, said the departure tax rebate not only offers favorable prices for overseas consumers, but also helps brands connect to the inbound tourism market. He hopes to take advantage of the policy and revitalize time-honored brands in both domestic and international markets.

As a must-visit in Shanghai, the Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street now has 45 departure tax refund stores covering a wide range of reputable brands in the categories of food, clothing and entertainment. They include Taikang Foods, Shao Wansheng, Cai Tongde Pharmacy, Maochang Optical Shop, Laofengxiang, as well as local department stores such as New World City, Yong'an Department Store and Shanghai No 1 Department Store.

In addition to expanding the number of tax refund stores, the city is also optimizing the smart tax refund system for a more efficient refund process. Man Lou Lan, a notable brand selling both traditional and modern designs of qipao, saw its sales grow 35 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year at its shop on the city's Changle Road, with overseas visitors accounting for about 40 percent of the total.

"When we issue the tax refund application form in the store, overseas travelers can scan the QR code to prefill the information, and the digital invoice will be automatically imported into the departure tax refund system. It significantly shortens the billing time at the store, and further facilitate overseas buyers' purchase and tax refund," said Zhang Xiaochun, finance manager at Man Lou Lan.