Debut economy, tax refunds spur spending

Jinjiang district in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, is taking consumption to another level by promoting both the debut economy and the departure tax refund policy.

The district has so far put in place over 600 debut stores with nearly 2,000 international brands, accounting for more than 30 percent of the city's debut economy resources.

"In terms of mechanism innovation, we not only took the lead in establishing the first national debut economy promotion center and the first debut economy research institute, but also formed the first debut economy alliance with more than 50 leading enterprises and institutions in Chengdu and Chongqing, empowering the development of the industrial chain, achieving resource sharing, demand matching and coordinated development," said Sun Qiu, director of the Jinjiang Debut Economy Promotion Center.

"To provide precise services to enterprises, we have launched a gold medal membership service system. By forming a professional service team and equipping one-on-one specialists for enterprises, we provide full life cycle services from research and development design, display and sales to implementation and operation. The policy toolbox covers multiple areas such as scientific and technological innovation support and initial launch rewards. During the 12th Chengdu FISU World University Games, we cut the approval time from 7-10 days to 2-3 days," she said.

Data from the promotion center show that Jinjiang district launched 28 debut economy activities and 96 debut stores in the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, the district has launched a departure tax refund plan to attract visitors and promote consumption.

In 2016, Chengdu became the first city in Southwest China to officially launch the policy. In July 2023, the first departure tax refund district — Chunxi Road departure tax refund district — was launched in Jinjiang district.

There are nearly 200 departure tax refund stores in Jinjiang district currently, 42 percent higher than at the beginning of this year, and accounting for 40 percent of tax refund stores in Chengdu.

These stores cover multiple areas of consumer interest, including luggage, clothing, electronics, and specialty cultural and creative industries, creating a tax refund shopping destination with wide coverage and concentrated brands, greatly stimulating the shopping enthusiasm of overseas tourists.

Between January and July, sales revenue of the departure tax refund stores of Jinjiang district surged 219.5 percent year-on-year, and departure tax refund services were offered to nearly 5,000 overseas tourists.

Zeng Junxiang, staff member of the tax service of Jinjiang district, said: "This year, we further optimized service supply, combined with consumer scenarios, and new models such as in-store refunds and online refunds have been launched to meet the different needs of overseas travelers and greatly enhance their shopping experience. Such a convenient one-stop service of 'shopping + tax refund' allows passengers to make secondary purchases after receiving the tax refund money."

"I bought a Xiaomi mobile phone at the IFS shopping center in Jinjiang district, and received a tax refund of 296 yuan ($41.4). Later, my friend and I happily had a meal at the shopping center with the refund money," said Rajan Brahmin, an Indian tourist.

"With the departure tax refund scheme, there is a benign loop of consume-refund-consume again," Zeng said.

Lan Huajuan, deputy head of the Chengdu municipal bureau of commerce, said: "This year, by optimizing the overall planning mechanism, enhancing commodity supply, creating consumption scenarios, innovating the consumption mode, and optimizing the international consumption environment, Chengdu has promoted the sustained recovery of the consumer market and achieved a new level of consumption scale."

Data from the CMBC showed that Chengdu's total retail sales of consumer goods reached nearly 655 billion yuan in the first seven months of this year, up 5.9 percent year-on-year.