Enhanced tax refund policies ease shopping experience in China for visitors from around the world

Effective from July 1, key measures under the “Tax Refund 2.0” initiative officially came into force, including the launch of a fully integrated electronic refund system and the adoption of random inspections for low-value tax refund claims. These steps aim to streamline tax refund procedures and enhance the shopping experience for foreign visitors.

On July 1, Romanian traveler David completed all departure tax refund procedures at the refund office in Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport within minutes, simply by presenting the QR code associated with his refund request.

“In the past, I had to keep paper invoices and tax refund forms throughout my trip. Issuing them was time-consuming, and I was always worried about losing them,” he said.

David purchased a wristwatch during his recent visit to Beijing. At a store eligible for departure tax refunds, he scanned a QR code to generate an electronic refund form. Upon departure, he only needed to present the same code to complete customs verification. A single code handled all refund procedures, making the process easier, smoother, and free of complications.

Previously, inbound travelers often worried about losing tax refund forms, misplacing receipts, or forgetting to obtain the required customs stamp. Under the new system, travelers only need to scan a QR code using their mobile browser after entering China, provide their identity information once, and receive a personalized QR code for departure tax refunds. This code can be used nationwide.

The QR code can be scanned at any store participating in the tax refund program or at any departure point across the country. Travelers can use it to access electronic refund forms and invoices, and receive real-time updates on their refund requests, making the entire process fully digital, transparent, and trackable.

The paperless system has also transformed operations for participating retailers.

“At peak travel seasons, customers often had to stand in line just to obtain paper tax refund forms,” said a staff member at a Lawson store designated for tax refunds at Beijing Capital International Airport.

“We now simply scan customers’ QR codes through the electronic system to collect identity data, automatically generate refund requests, and send them directly to their phones. There is no need for manual filling, printing, or waiting. As a result, shoppers spend much less time in queues, and we no longer need to install additional printing equipment.”

Another key update to the policy is the introduction of a random inspection system for low-value tax refund claims.

On the morning of July 1, several international travelers were regularly lined up at the departure tax refund service point at Futian Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, southern China. Yang Liqin, a traveler from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region who frequently commutes between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, smoothly completed his tax refund procedures after purchasing a smart camera with a gimbal, receiving approximately 530 yuan ($77.98).

Yang said, “I did not undergo an on-site inspection today, so the entire tax refund process took only a few minutes. This new policy makes purchasing high-quality Chinese products easier and more convenient for us.”

Under the new policy, which took effect on July 1, tax refund applications for purchases valued at less than 10,000 yuan are subject only to random physical inspections, while applications valued at 10,000 yuan or more remain subject to mandatory physical inspection for each individual item.

Sun told the *People’s Daily*, “Most tourists requesting refunds of relatively small amounts no longer need to wait in lines for physical inspections just to reclaim sums ranging from a few hundred to even a few dozen yuan. Travelers who are not selected for inspection can quickly proceed to the next step, while dedicated staff assist those chosen for inspection, ensuring the process runs systematically and efficiently, and significantly improving the tax refund experience.”

These policy improvements have made shopping in China much more attractive to overseas visitors.

A wide range of locally made products caught the attention of Russian tourist Marina after her visit to the most famous tourist attractions in Dalian, Liaoning Province, in northeastern China, including gift boxes containing sea cucumber, handicrafts made from seashells and pearl thread, and stuffed seals.

Marina said, “The refund process was very simple and straightforward, and the amount was transferred immediately. Now I want to buy more cultural and creative products as gifts for my family and friends.”

As the implementation of the departure tax refund policy continues to expand, the number of stores offering tax refund services is increasing nationwide, accompanied by a greater diversity of goods on offer. This variety contributes to a more satisfying shopping experience for international visitors, while convenient tax refund services ensure a steady flow of foreign shoppers into stores.

In this context, the manager of an Adidas Originals store at a shopping center in Chongqing, southwestern China, said, “Our customer numbers have doubled since the launch of the instant tax refund service in April.” He added that sales conducted through the instant tax refund program currently account for about 6% of the store’s total revenue.

Since the beginning of this year, Chongqing has continued to expand its departure tax refund services, adding 73 new stores to the list of participating retailers, bringing the total number of stores covered by the service in the city to 363.

Li Lin, deputy director of the Export Tax Refund Service and Management Office of the Chongqing Taxation Bureau, said, “We have also established centralized instant tax refund service points in shopping areas popular among international visitors, including Jiefangbei, Chaotianmen, Guanyinqiao, and The MixC shopping center.”

Li added, “In addition, Chongqing is participating in pilot programs with several provinces to enable mutual recognition of instant tax refund services across different regions. In the future, we will continue to expand the scope of participating merchants, diversify available products, and provide more convenient and accessible mechanisms for overseas visitors to claim tax refunds.”

Dancer “Wu Youfu” from Sichuan Province recently delivered a three-minute performance during the premiere of the 21st season of “America’s Got Talent,” featuring eight humanoid robots of the “G1” model, produced by Chinese company Unitree Robotics.

The performance received unanimous praise from the four judges, qualifying the dancer to advance to the next stage, with one judge commenting, “Their performance was stunning.”

Clips of this striking performance sparked widespread discussion on social media platforms outside China, with many users around the world expressing amazement at the robots’ performance and their prices. One user said, “I checked the price and found it to be less than $10,000 per robot! The robotic arms alone in factories in our country cost much more than that!”

Latest data from the General Administration of Customs show that the total value of exports of robots of all types reached 11.32 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2026, shipped to 148 countries and regions worldwide.

The humanoid robotics sector recorded particularly notable performance; in 2025, global shipments of humanoid robots totaled approximately 13,000 units, with Chinese manufacturing companies accounting for the vast majority. Chinese humanoid robots are distinguished by their more competitive prices compared to their Western counterparts. The basic model produced by Unitree Robotics sells for less than $6,000, while the smaller version from Agility Robotics costs around $14,000.

Users from around the world are now asking the following question: “How has China managed to manufacture robots that combine high performance with good prices?”

In response to this question, industry experts point out that China is the only country in the world that possesses all industrial categories specified in the United Nations classification system, ensuring seamless integration from raw materials in the early stages of production to the manufacturing of final products in later stages. The ability to control supply chain costs, a direct result of the development of the entire industrial chain, is a key factor behind Chinese companies’ ability to produce high-quality robots at low prices.

Core technologies for humanoid robots, such as motors, reducers, batteries, sensors, and electronic control systems, significantly overlap with technologies used in new energy vehicles (NEVs). Thanks to China’s long-standing global leadership in the production and sales of NEVs, a mature, comprehensive, and cost-effective supply chain system has provided a ready-made “infrastructure” for the development of the robotics sector.

After a decade of technological advancement and expanded production capacity, the prices of standard, multi-purpose domestic industrial robots have dropped to a range of 70,000 to 150,000 yuan. The cost of purchasing integrated robot systems has also declined significantly compared to ten years ago. Some domestic models are now sold for about one-third the cost of previously imported similar units. Overall, the sector has followed a path combining lower prices with improved quality and performance.

“Human capital returns” and the diversification of application scenarios are key driving forces behind the continuous development of China’s robotics industry. Statistics show that China leads the world in total human resources, the number of scientific and technical personnel, and the size of its research and development workforce. With more than five million graduates annually in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, the country enjoys a steady influx of technical talent covering all segments of the robotics industry value chain.

Thanks to this multi-level human support, which includes specialized engineers in algorithms, mechanical design, electronic control systems, and smart manufacturing lines, Chinese robotics companies have been able to develop multiple parallel tracks for technological research and development.

From material handling, sorting, and welding in factories, to goods stacking and inspection in warehouses, coffee preparation and food service in the hospitality sector, and last-mile delivery services in logistics, these diverse real-world scenarios provide invaluable training data essential for robotics development.

China is working to transform robotics technologies into high-quality, affordable products, enabling users worldwide to acquire and benefit from their capabilities.

China is accelerating the development of space computing, an emerging technology aimed at relocating computational power from Earth to orbit. What was once considered a futuristic concept is now entering the stage of field verification and actual deployment.

Earlier this year, ADAspace Technology, a commercial space company, in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, successfully used space computing capabilities to control a ground-based robot.

During the demonstration, the user issued commands in natural language from Earth. A large artificial intelligence model hosted on an orbital satellite processed the request, then transmitted instructions via a space-to-ground communication link, directing the robot to complete its assigned tasks.

This achievement marked another milestone in China’s efforts to build space-based computing infrastructure. Why is such a system necessary, and how does China plan to develop it? In this regard, the People’s Daily conducted interviews with experts to answer these questions.

He Baohong, chief engineer at the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), stated, “Space-based computing refers to a space information infrastructure created by deploying computing systems, data storage facilities, and high-speed communication networks in orbit, integrating computing, storage, and data transmission capabilities.”

The primary driver is the growing gap between rising demand for computing power and constraints on energy resources.

Guo Liang, chief engineer at the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), noted that the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence has driven a massive surge in demand for computing capacity. Statistics indicate that data centers in China consumed 196 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2025.

Ground-based data centers face growing constraints due to rising energy consumption, escalating cooling costs, and limited land availability. By harnessing abundant solar energy in space to generate electricity continuously, space computing offers a new approach to addressing these challenges.

The second driver is the increasing need to process data more rapidly. Traditionally, satellite data follows a “capture, then transmit, then process” workflow, meaning that obtaining usable remote sensing data often takes several hours. In applications such as wildfire prevention, flood response, and maritime rights protection, every minute counts.

Wang Shanguang, dean of the School of Computer Science at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, stated that his team is working on the Tianxuan space constellation, which uses onboard artificial intelligence to process data directly in orbit, enabling the transmission of key target information to Earth within minutes. In emergency response scenarios, this could transform disaster management from post-disaster rescue to pre-disaster early warning.

The third factor is the strategic importance of orbital resources and radio spectrum, both of which are limited and non-renewable. As nations compete for these strategic resources, the development of space computing has become not only an industrial priority but also a crucial component of digital infrastructure and security.

Guo added that the development of space-based computing can be divided into three stages. The first stage involves computing via a single satellite. Each satellite is equipped with AI computing modules with specific computational capabilities to perform preliminary processing on remote sensing images, including filtering, cloud removal, and target recognition, before sending the validated data back to Earth.

The second stage is constellation networks, where multiple satellites are interconnected via inter-satellite links to form a local network in space. This enables distributed computing, dynamic resource allocation, and collaborative task processing among satellites.

The final stage involves creating a space computing network, where dedicated large-scale computing nodes are deployed in orbit to form space computing clusters, enabling seamless integration between space-based and ground-based computing resources.

China’s space computing industry has now advanced from the theoretical research phase to on-orbit practical verification, and has begun deploying computational satellite networks.

Technological verification has achieved significant breakthroughs. China has completed on-orbit tests involving multiple satellites and successfully launched several experimental satellites equipped with edge computing payloads, confirming the feasibility of using commercial components in space.

Substantial progress has also been made in inter-satellite communications, with independently developed laser communication links completing high-speed transmission tests between multiple satellites.

The deployment of satellite constellations is now entering a period of rapid expansion. Broadband constellations in low Earth orbit, including the Qianfan constellation, have begun regular launches. A new generation of satellites is being designed with dedicated capacity for computing payloads, paving the way for integrated capabilities in communications, navigation, and remote sensing.

ADASpace has unveiled a plan to deploy a network of 2,800 computational satellites. Meanwhile, GalaxySpace, a pioneer in the provision and manufacturing of satellite-based internet solutions, has launched more than 40 satellites to date and is currently developing a third-generation satellite platform specifically designed for space computing.

An integrated industrial ecosystem is taking shape: specialized professional committees have been established, such as the Space Computing Professionals Committee and the Beijing Institute of Space Intelligent Computing Research, while the Beijing Space Computing Innovation Center was officially inaugurated.

China has also released a list of ten priority projects targeting key technologies for space computing. More than ten leading companies, including LandSpace, GalaxySpace, ZTE, and Baidu, are participating in these initiatives, thereby covering the entire industry chain—from satellite platforms and payloads and electronic chips to networks, software, and applications.

Application scenarios are evolving from merely providing basic functions to delivering exceptional usability. Space computing has seen initial commercial adoption across both consumer and industrial sectors. In emergency response scenarios, such as wildfire prevention and flood management, remote sensing data processed via onboard edge computing enables the distribution of disaster information within minutes, establishing an initial closed commercial loop.

Guo added, “China’s greatest strength lies in its ability to coordinate resources across the entire industry chain.” Leveraging its robust industrial base and vast domestic market, Beijing is pursuing a development path that deeply integrates communications, navigation, remote sensing, and computing into multi-functional satellite constellations.