Shanghai is making shopping more convenient and rewarding for overseas visitors with upgraded instant tax refund services across the city. Overseas visitors shopping at designated tax refund stores can claim VAT refunds on eligible purchases, with around 2,000 participating stores now operating across Shanghai.

Centralized refund counters allow visitors to process purchases from multiple stores in one location and receive refunds in renminbi on the spot, depending on the payment methods available at each service point. Multilingual self-service kiosks, the Shanghai Tax Free Online mobile service platform, and digital tax refund maps further streamline the experience by supporting mobile refund services and providing easy access to information on participating merchants.

Since April 2025, the minimum purchase threshold for tax refunds has been reduced to 200 yuan ($29.48) for purchases made by the same overseas visitor at the same store on the same day.