Beijing has seen a record number of tax refund applications made at the city's two major airports so far this year, with the streamlined procedures bringing greater convenience to departing visitors as China has been welcoming an influx of international tourists.
Statistics from Beijing Customs showed there were 131,000 applications for tax refunds made by passengers leaving from the Beijing Capital International Airport and Daxing International Airport in the first seven months of 2026, marking a year-on-year increase of over 516 percent.
The total value of goods for which tax refunds were applied reached over 1 billion yuan (more than 150 million U.S. dollars), an increase of 45 percent compared to the same period last year.
China has been seeing an increase in the number of foreign visitors thanks to expanded visa-free policies and air routes in recent months, and the country has been enticing a rising number of global tourists since the start of the summer season, fueling a consumption boom and further driving the growth of tax refund applications.
Some of those who were ready to leave from Beijing at the end of their trip shared some of the purchases they had made.
"(I bought) some products of skin care. It's famous in Italy, China's skin care," said an Italian tourist.
"(I got some) bags and luggages. (China is) an amazing country, amazing food, amazing people," said a visitor from Mongolia.
China moved to further optimized its tax refund procedures for departing passengers starting in July. The new rule stipulates that for tax refund applications with sales amount below 10,000 yuan (around 1,480 US dollars), a random sampling inspection model will be implemented, while physical verification will no longer be carried out for all applications; for tax refund applications with sales amount of 10,000 yuan or more, the standard of physical verification still be strictly implemented.
"By selecting an applicant's preferred language, scanning their passport, retrieving their personal information, and confirming their border exit information, the system will automatically find all departure tax refund application forms under the passenger's name. Passengers whose purchase amount for tax-refund goods is less than 10,000 yuan can be exempt from verification, and the procedure can be completed without any additional steps," said Geng Xiao, a staff member at the Beijing Capital International Airport Customs.
Beyond clothing, bags, and tourism-related cultural and creative products, Chinese tech products such as wireless headphones, smart watches and mobile phones are also proving popular among a growing number of overseas tourists.
"I bought some devices from Xiaomi, Meizu, (such as a) toothbrush, power bank, (that) kind of (thing)," said Maria Sizova, a visitor from Russia.
Others found exactly the tools they need to help them carry out their work back in their home countries.
"We purchased the DJI goods -- microphones and recording systems. I am a teacher, I need to record my lectures," said another Russian traveler.
"Many tourists chose to buy electronics. For example, this Ethiopian traveler bought two domestically produced mobile phones, clip-on earphones, and a digital watch, totaling over 10,000 yuan. The tax refund exceeded 1,000 yuan. Some trendy blind boxes are also very popular with foreign tourists. The entire process can be completed without the need for paper documents," said Liang Shu, deputy director of the No.1 passenger inspection division under the Beijing Capital International Airport Customs.
Alongside the optimization of the tax refund procedures, a hike in inbound tourism has further boosted consumption across China. Anticipating a continued influx, the Beijing municipal government has proposed to double the number of tax refund shops for departing passengers by the end of 2027.
Tax refund applications hit new high at Beijing's major airports
