by LIU Sunan

Shanghai has rolled out a mobile platform that lets foreign visitors claim tax refunds with a few taps, replacing paper forms and queues at counters.

The service, developed by the city's tax bureau with customs and commerce authorities, is being trialed in key districts including Pudong, Huangpu and Jing'an. Travelers register purchases, clear customs and receive refunds entirely online, with payments credited via Alipay or bank transfer.

The digital system supports both airport refunds and instant "shop-and-refund" options. It offers multilingual interfaces including Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, and uses optical character recognition to capture passport details.

Shanghai first tested immediate refunds in 2019 and eased rules further this April by raising the cash refund cap and lowering the spending threshold.

As of Sept. 29, duty-free sales under the scheme rose 83.8% from a year earlier, with refunds up 82.9%. Sales through instant refunds jumped 21-fold, keeping Shanghai the national leader.