Jilin Province upgrades tax refund services as inbound spending surges

(ECNS) -- Jilin Province in northeast China has upgraded tax refund services for overseas travelers as inbound spending gains momentum, with transaction volumes and refund amounts rising sharply this year.

As of Tuesday, the province had more than 81 tax refund stores. Average monthly transactions this year rose 277% year on year, while the value of tax refunds increased 170%, according to the Jilin Provincial Department of Commerce.

The department recently launched a multilingual digital map for tax-refund shopping, making it easier for overseas travelers to find participating stores and claim refunds.

By searching for the "Jilin Tax Refund" mini-program on WeChat, overseas travelers can access real-time navigation, information on tax refund policies and participating merchants, and one-stop guidance on tax-refund shopping.

In July, the Jilin Provincial Department of Commerce issued an implementation plan to further boost inbound consumption and introduced upgraded measures under the province's "Tax Refund 2.0" program.

Under the new measures, tax refund applications for purchases under 10,000 yuan (about $1,400) are subject to random checks. Jilin is also promoting cross-regional recognition of instant tax refunds and has extended the departure period for overseas travelers to 28 days.

Overseas travelers who shop at tax refund stores in other provinces can now claim their refunds at ports in Jilin.

So far, purchases made outside Jilin account for 8% of transactions verified for tax refunds at Jilin ports. These purchases were made at stores in 15 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Xi'an.

(By Gong Weiwei)