The Chinese Ministries of Finance, Commerce, Culture and Tourism, General Administration of Customs, and State Taxation Administration recently issued a notification to regulate the management of downtown duty-free shops to promote their healthy and orderly development. According to the notification, one downtown duty-free shop will be established in Xi'an, along with seven other cities: Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, Changsha, and Fuzhou. The notification will come into effect on Oct 1, 2024.

As the first downtown duty-free shop in Xi'an will be established, let's first learn about what a downtown duty-free shop is and how to shop in it.

A downtown duty-free shop refers to a shop that has been approved by the State Council of China and is established downtown to sell duty-free goods to passengers who are about to depart from the country.

Downtown duty-free shops will operate on a pre-purchase in the city and pick-up at the port before departure model. After shopping at a downtown duty-free shop, passengers must pick up their purchased items at the duty-free goods pick-up point in the port's departure area and carry them out of the country in one go.

The downtown duty-free shops mainly sell easily portable consumer goods such as food, clothing and accessories, luggage, shoes and hats, maternal and baby products, jewelry and crafts, electronics, cosmetics, and alcohol.

Eligible Passengers

The notification specifies that downtown duty-free shops are intended for passengers departing via air transport or international cruise within 60 days (including but not limited to Chinese nationals).

Requirement of downtown duty-free shops for passengers:

1. Passengers shall possess valid exit and entry documents and have purchased tickets for outbound flights or international cruises.

2. Passengers must present proof of purchase (such as the receipt) and valid entry/exit documents at the duty-free goods collection point to retrieve duty-free items.

3. Passengers shall shop at duty-free stores in the city of the departure port.