China's relief plane departs for Sri Lanka with aid supplies

A plane loaded with roughly 1.4 million U.S. dollars worth of Chinese-aid emergency supplies has departed for Sri Lanka to help those who affected in severe flooding and landslides brought by Cyclone Ditwah that hit the country in late November.

The shipment, including life jackets, tents, blankets and sheets, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport on Monday morning.

At the request of the Sri Lankan government, China has also dispatched emergency humanitarian assistance, including one million dollars in cash.

The Sri Lankan Disaster Management Center (DMC) announced on Sunday that at least 627 people have died due to the disaster, with 190 others missing and more than two million people affected.

The number of overseas tourists claiming China's departure tax refund surged 285 percent year on year in the first 11 months of 2025, according to data released by the State Taxation Administration on Monday.

In the same period, the sales volume of goods eligible for departure tax refunds and the amount of tax refunds both increased 98.8 percent, according to the data. By the end of November, the number of tax refund stores catering to international visitors in the country had reached 12,252, including over 7,000 "instant refund" stores.

The departure tax refund measures, which enable overseas tourists to claim back value-added tax on eligible purchases made at designated tax refund stores before leaving China, are translating growing inbound travel flows into consumption momentum and emerging as a fresh driver for inbound tourism spending, the administration said.

China has introduced a series of measures since April to optimize its tax refund system for overseas visitors. Tax authorities nationwide have improved processing efficiency and enabled cross-region refund services, making the procedure more convenient and thus boosting tourists' spending.

The country first implemented the departure tax refund policy for overseas travelers in 2015. Since then, the scale of departure tax refunds has continued to grow year by year, benefiting an increasing number of international travelers.