Commodities are becoming more abundant and service levels are improving

The expansion of the duty-free industry market will help consumption pick up (consumption window)

　　Reporter Luo Shanshan

　　From the perspective of prospering the domestic market, the duty-free industry has multiple functions such as attracting the return of consumption, activating the consumer market, and enhancing the level of consumption of residents. From the perspective of developing an open economy, the duty-free industry leverages the comparative advantages of international trade to enable global consumers to obtain better material returns at lower costs, which is conducive to promoting the quality and upgrading of the supply side and stimulating the advantages of domestic industries.

　　Since July 1 this year, Hainan’s outlying island’s duty-free shopping policy has been further relaxed, and the annual duty-free shopping limit for outlying island tourists has been increased from 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan per person. At the same time, various localities have also introduced policies to promote the development of the tax-free industry. What impact will the new tax exemption policy have on consumers? How did the market react? What is the future development prospect of the tax-free industry? The reporter conducted an interview.

Tax-free shopping and tourism consumption

　　Reduced consumers' shopping costs, and at the same time stimulated consumption growth in tourism, aviation, hotel, catering and other industries

　　"This perfume usually sells for 730 yuan, and it only costs 455 yuan here. Face creams, eye creams, and masks are also a lot cheaper. There are really too many things to buy." In early August, it was rainy and rainy for several days in Sanya Haitang Bay Duty Free Shop. The shopping enthusiasm of Huang Xingyun, a resident of Nanjing, Jiangsu, has not been affected by the weather.

　　"A month ago, I paid attention to the adjustment of Hainan’s tax-free policy. I always wanted to find a chance to travel and buy something for myself." Huang Xingyun pointed to friends who were shopping around and said, "We are I came together in groups, and I just asked if anyone was going with me in the WeChat group. I didn’t expect everyone to hit it off and quickly finalized the itinerary."

　　The tax exemption policy adjustment mentioned by Huang Xingyun refers to the "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port" issued on June 1 this year. The plan proposes to relax the tax-free shopping quota on outlying islands to 100,000 yuan per person per year and expand the types of duty-free commodities. In order to implement the requirements of the plan, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation issued the "Announcement on Hainan's Outlying Island Passengers Duty-Free Shopping Policy", clarifying that from July 1st, the annual duty-free shopping quota for outlying island passengers will be increased from 30,000 yuan to 10 10,000 yuan; expand the types of duty-free products from 38 to 45, including popular products such as mobile phones and tablets; cancel the 8,000 yuan tax-free limit for a single product; increase the single-off island limit for cosmetics from 12 to 30...

　　Duty-free shopping means that in a specific area, inbound and outbound tourists can purchase duty-free goods at specific retailers that have obtained duty-free business qualifications. Duty-free taxes are generally customs duties, import value-added taxes and consumption taxes.

　　As of August 1, 2020, there are 313 duty-free shops of various types across the country, distributed in 31 provinces, covering all provincial administrative regions in mainland my country.

　　"Since April 2011, Hainan's outlying island tax exemption policy has been adjusted many times, the tax exemption limit for outlying island shopping has been continuously increased, and the types of tax-free products have become more abundant." said Li Xuhong, director of the Institute of Fiscal Policy and Application of Beijing National Accounting Institute, said that tax-free shopping has reduced consumption. The cost of tourists has increased the attractiveness to tourists, can drive consumption growth in tourism, aviation, hotels, catering and other industries, and promote employment while enhancing the international competitiveness of China’s modern service industry.

　　According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs, from July 1 to 27 this year, the customs supervised Hainan’s outlying islands with a total of 2.219 billion yuan of duty-free sales and 281,000 shopping visitors, an increase of 234.19% and 42.71% respectively over the same period last year.

　　According to a report released by Nanguo think tank and Ctrip Travel, in the summer of 2020, Hainan's tourism market will usher in the first peak of tourism this year. From July 1 to the present, the overall number of tourists in Hainan has increased by 24.11% month-on-month, which is basically the same as the same period last year. . It is worth noting that 80% of tourists said they would go to duty-free shops to shop, and Sanya International Duty Free City has become a popular choice for tourists.

　　According to big data from the backstage of Tujia Homestay, since June this year, booking transactions for homestays near 4 duty-free shops in Hainan Province accounted for nearly 20% of the province's total. Duty-free shopping on outlying islands is becoming an important factor in attracting tourists to travel to Hainan.

Policies to boost the duty-free market

　　A report predicts that my country’s duty-free industry market will exceed 250 billion yuan by 2025

　　"In October last year, I went out to the country and I can shop in the duty-free shops in the city after returning home. I heard that this duty-free shop has extended the time limit for entry and exit, so I came over to take a look." In the middle of Beijing Huixin East Street At a duty-free shop in the city, Xiao Yaxin, a customer, is choosing goods.

　　Previously, according to regulations, Chinese travelers who entered the country with a passport and reached the age of 16 years old, within 180 days from the date of entry, can use their passports to purchase duty-free goods at a duty-free shop in China Service City once. Affected by the epidemic this year, the duty-free shops in Beijing Zhongfu City have gradually extended the validity period of entry and exit records. Passengers returning from August 1, 2019 to June 1, 2020 can arrive before December 31, 2020 Shop shopping. This move attracted a large number of consumers to shop, and many products sold hot.

　　At present, duty-free shops in my country mainly include port duty-free shops, city duty-free shops and Hainan outlying island duty-free shops, etc. The consumer groups served by different duty-free shops are different. Taking the duty-free shops in Zhongfu City as an example, they are mainly for Chinese citizens who have returned to China, while Hainan outlying island duty-free shops are mainly for domestic and foreign travelers who have purchased outlying island air tickets, train tickets, and ferry tickets but do not leave the country.

　　On June 18, Henan’s first duty-free shop in Zhongfu City opened for business; on July 9, one month after obtaining the qualification for duty-free business, Wangfujing Group Co., Ltd. planned to invest in the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary for business development. Duty-free goods management and other businesses. Wangfujing Group believes that in recent years, with the continuous development of China's economy and the adjustment of tax-free policies, China's tax-free market has great potential for development. The company's tax-free operation business will help expand the scope of its main business and help transform and upgrade the existing retail business. .

　　The rapid rise of the duty-free industry is behind the country's long-term strategic plan to promote the development of the duty-free market.

　　On March 13, the National Development and Reform Commission and other 23 departments jointly issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Quality of Consumption and Accelerating the Formation of a Strong Domestic Market", which proposed that the functional positioning of the tax-free industry should be determined scientifically, and the service of foreigners and Chinese outbound residents should be given equal importance. Strengthen the overall planning for the development of the duty-free industry, improve the policy system for the duty-free industry; improve the policy of duty-free shops in the city, build a number of duty-free shops in the city with Chinese characteristics; expand the port duty-free business, add port duty-free shops, etc.

　　Since the beginning of this year, many places will promote the development of the tax-free industry as an important starting point for promoting consumption. Beijing proposes to develop high-quality and characteristic products exclusively for tax-free channels, supports enterprises to carry out the trial of exit tax rebate with immediate purchase and refund, optimizes the exit tax rebate service process, and further expands the scope of the trial; Shanghai proposes to support the establishment of duty-free goods operating companies in the city to increase duty-free shops, Set up a certain area of ​​domestic product sales areas in duty-free shops to promote domestic independent brands to better enter the international market.

　　China Securities Investment Corporation recently released a report saying that by the end of 2019, my country's duty-free industry market will exceed 50 billion yuan and is expected to exceed 250 billion yuan by 2025.

Improve development and promote consumption upgrade

　　Experts believe that the restrictions on entry and exit duty-free shopping should be appropriately liberalized, so as to enhance the convenience of Chinese residents and inbound tourists for shopping, and guide overseas consumption to return.

　　“The quota has increased, the variety has increased, the restrictions have decreased, and everyone’s shopping enthusiasm has increased.” Guo Xia, a tourist from Hubei who just returned from Hainan, bought a lot of duty-free goods. “You can buy them in Hainan once you visit. You don’t need to go abroad for shopping if you want to buy."

　　According to Pan Helin, Executive Dean of the Institute of Digital Economy, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, my country has had more than 100 million outbound tourists every year in recent years, and the consumption amount has exceeded 100 billion US dollars. The introduction of the new policy for duty-free shopping on Hainan’s outlying islands is conducive to creating a "home" tourist shopping destination, which can not only meet people's consumer demand, but also promote the return of consumption, and enhance the role of domestic demand in driving economic growth.

　　In addition, as the domestic market has become more open and attractive, the consumption of inbound tourists has increased year by year, and the duty-free market has more room for growth.

　　Experts believe that the next step is to improve the development of the duty-free market, moderately liberalize restrictions on entry and exit duty-free shopping, optimize the shopping experience of domestic duty-free shops, improve the convenience of Chinese residents and inbound tourists, and guide overseas consumption to return. At the same time, expand the display and sales of high-quality local brands in duty-free retail channels to enhance the influence of “Made in China”.

　　Li Xuhong introduced that from the perspective of prospering the domestic market, the duty-free industry has multiple functions such as attracting consumption backflow, activating the consumer market, and enhancing the level of consumption of residents. From the perspective of developing an open economy, the duty-free industry leverages the comparative advantages of international trade to enable global consumers to obtain better material returns at lower costs, which is conducive to promoting the quality and upgrading of the supply side and stimulating the advantages of domestic industries.

　　A few days ago, in order to improve the convenience of picking up duty-free goods and optimizing the shopping experience, Sanya Phoenix International Airport officially opened a new duty-free pick-up point on outlying islands, increasing the number of pick-up windows from the original 18 to 38.

　　In order to create a stable and orderly shopping environment, customs and other departments have started from improving the management system and strengthening the use of science and technology, innovating management models and methods, and adjusting the control of business system parameters to realize the informatization supervision of the entire process of duty-free shopping on outlying islands. The construction of a free trade port creates a good environment.