Crowds flock to shop tax-free
By Lu Feiran |
April 21, 2011, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Hainan, China's southernmost island province, launched a tax rebate program yesterday as part of the island's efforts to become a major tourist and shopping destination.
Both visitors and local residents will be able to buy tax-free commodities from designated stores before flying to other destinations in China.
Thousands of shoppers had queued up even before the pilot tax-free store opened at 10:10am in Sanya, Xinhua news agency reported.
The store had to limit the number of customers about 10 minutes after opening time when there were more than 800 people inside, Xinhua said.
Zhu Yan, a tourist from eastern China's Zhejiang Province, was one of the first customers.
Almost all the members of her tour group, except a few elderly tourists, came to the tax-free shop, Zhu told Xinhua.
"I used to buy tax-free commodities like cosmetics and perfume in Hong Kong. Now I have another choice here in Hainan, which made my trip more exciting," she said.
Some other customers, however, found prices were not as cheap as they thought.
A man surnamed Jiang said he and his wife wanted to buy a Piaget watch for their son as a wedding present, with the price excluding tax much lower than in Shanghai.
But an extra tax, officially known as tax on baggage and postal articles, is added to products costing more than 5,000 yuan (US$766), and the Jiangs found themselves liable to pay that because the watch would have cost around 180,000 yuan.
"The tax rate is 30 percent, so we still faced paying more than buying it in Shanghai," Jiang said. "So at last we gave up. It's not favorable at all if buying extremely luxurious products."
The couple bought some candy instead.
Shanghai travel agencies said they believed the tax-free stores would appeal to tourists because they now had more shopping options and items such as imported cosmetics, perfume and clothes would be cheaper.
The agencies said that because of rises in the price of airline tickets and hotels sparked by the tax-free policy, the cost of Hainan-bound travel packages would go up by 30 percent compared to the off-season price.
The first "tax-free shopping" travel group set off from Shanghai to Hainan last night. Organized by several travel agencies in Shanghai, around 20 group members are due to visit the tax-free stores on Saturday.
The tax-free store in Sanya, managed by the China Duty Free Group, has a shopping area of 7,000 square meters and offers 18 types of imported commodities, including jewelry, handicrafts, watches, perfumes and cosmetics.
Taxes eligible for rebates include customs duties, import value added taxes and consumer taxes.
When combined, these rebates reduce prices by 10 to 35 percent.
Eligible Chinese and foreign tourists, those 18 years and older, can purchase tax-free commodities twice a year, while island residents can purchase such commodities once a year.
Both visitors and local residents will be able to buy tax-free commodities from designated stores before flying to other destinations in China.
Thousands of shoppers had queued up even before the pilot tax-free store opened at 10:10am in Sanya, Xinhua news agency reported.
The store had to limit the number of customers about 10 minutes after opening time when there were more than 800 people inside, Xinhua said.
Zhu Yan, a tourist from eastern China's Zhejiang Province, was one of the first customers.
Almost all the members of her tour group, except a few elderly tourists, came to the tax-free shop, Zhu told Xinhua.
"I used to buy tax-free commodities like cosmetics and perfume in Hong Kong. Now I have another choice here in Hainan, which made my trip more exciting," she said.
Some other customers, however, found prices were not as cheap as they thought.
A man surnamed Jiang said he and his wife wanted to buy a Piaget watch for their son as a wedding present, with the price excluding tax much lower than in Shanghai.
But an extra tax, officially known as tax on baggage and postal articles, is added to products costing more than 5,000 yuan (US$766), and the Jiangs found themselves liable to pay that because the watch would have cost around 180,000 yuan.
"The tax rate is 30 percent, so we still faced paying more than buying it in Shanghai," Jiang said. "So at last we gave up. It's not favorable at all if buying extremely luxurious products."
The couple bought some candy instead.
Shanghai travel agencies said they believed the tax-free stores would appeal to tourists because they now had more shopping options and items such as imported cosmetics, perfume and clothes would be cheaper.
The agencies said that because of rises in the price of airline tickets and hotels sparked by the tax-free policy, the cost of Hainan-bound travel packages would go up by 30 percent compared to the off-season price.
The first "tax-free shopping" travel group set off from Shanghai to Hainan last night. Organized by several travel agencies in Shanghai, around 20 group members are due to visit the tax-free stores on Saturday.
The tax-free store in Sanya, managed by the China Duty Free Group, has a shopping area of 7,000 square meters and offers 18 types of imported commodities, including jewelry, handicrafts, watches, perfumes and cosmetics.
Taxes eligible for rebates include customs duties, import value added taxes and consumer taxes.
When combined, these rebates reduce prices by 10 to 35 percent.
Eligible Chinese and foreign tourists, those 18 years and older, can purchase tax-free commodities twice a year, while island residents can purchase such commodities once a year.
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