After a tax-refund program was piloted in the Hainan Province in 2011, the Chinese government announced its adoption of a national tax refund scheme for international tourists on Jan. 16, Friday.
The move forms part of an overall tourism push that officials hope will bolster the country's GDP.
The scheme will mean that, as overseas visitors leave China, they can apply for an 11-percent rebate on consumer goods that were bought from department stores that have been selected by the government.
Visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan can also participate in the scheme, but eligible travelers must have spent no more than 183 days on the mainland. Additionally, the minimum purchase is 500 yuan at any one store in one day.
The announcement was made after the National Tourism Administration's director, Li Jinzao, spoke on the subject of investment at a national tourism work conference last week. Li said that tourism "is not just about consumption" and highlighted that "the tourism sector has a large demand for investment."
According to the director, the administration anticipates that such investment will be valued at 3 trillion yuan ($483 billion) over the next three years. Furthermore, additional investment projects are valued at 15 trillion yuan over the same time frame.
Liu Shangxi, a senior Finance Ministry researcher, informed the media on Friday: "The expansion of the program will spur inbound trips and boost the export of China-made commodities."
However, the number of cities that have joined the scheme has not yet been confirmed. According to Southern Metropolis News, the city of Hengqin is on board, but the details of other locations remain uncertain.