Downtown duty-free shopping in China gets policy boost

BEIJING - Outbound travelers will be able to explore downtown duty-free shopping in more Chinese cities and more easily access consumer goods of fashionable Chinese brands, an official statement said on Tuesday.

A duty-free store will be opened in each of the eight cities, namely Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Xi'an, Changsha and Fuzhou, as required by a recently released interim measures for the administration of duty-free shops in cities.

The rules will apply to six existing duty-free shops in Beijing, Shanghai, Qingdao, Dalian, Xiamen and Sanya immediately after being put to effect on Oct 1, said the statement jointly made by the Ministries of finance, commerce, culture and tourism, the General Administration of Customs and the State Administration of Taxation.

Another 13 foreign exchange goods duty-free shops shall be transformed into downtown duty-free shops within 3 months from the commencement of the new rules, and shall begin to operate only after passing the customs inspection.

The rules stipulated that duty-free shops in cities are for travelers, including but not limited to the Chinese nationals, who will be departing the country by air or international cruise within 60 days.

Travelers can make purchases in advance at these stores and pick up their goods at the ports of departure.

Such downtown duty-free shops will mainly sell consumer goods that are easy to carry, and "fashionable goods" of domestic brands that bear a strong traditional Chinese culture are particularly encouraged to be sold, said the statement.