Ministry of Commerce: Vigorously develop outbound tax refunds, increase the number of tax refund stores, and diversify tax refund products.

The Ministry of Commerce held a meeting in Shenzhen on March 26 on advancing efforts to build an international consumer environment. The meeting pointed out that carrying out work to build an international consumer environment is an important lever for strongly boosting consumption, an active measure to expand high-level opening up to the outside world, and a concrete step to build the “Shop in China” brand. The pilot cities should, based on local conditions, develop a batch of international consumption clusters, enrich the supply of high-quality goods and services, and innovate consumer scenarios that integrate business travel, culture, sports, and wellness. They should vigorously develop tax-free shopping for departing travelers, increase the number of tax-free stores, enrich tax-free merchandise, and optimize tax-free services. They should improve the level of international services and create a more convenient and comfortable consumer environment. They should strengthen overall coordination, do a good job with fund management, enhance publicity and promotion, and ensure that the pilot work achieves practical results. (Ministry of Commerce)