Duty-free shops to be set up in downtown Beijing

Beijing is expected to set up duty-free shops in its downtown area, said an official at the first general assembly of the World Tourism Cities Federation in Beijing on Saturday.

Beijing wants to further boost the construction of its duty-free system for tourists. The move will include building duty-free shops in the downtown area and providing entry and exit tax rebates services, said Lu Yong, director of the Beijing Tourism Committee and secretary-general of the council of the World Tourism Cities Federation.

At the same time, Beijing also plans to increase flights to other tourism destinations from the city, Lu said. During the meeting, the municipality signed memorandums of cooperation with several cities to share tourism resources.

Ding Xiangyang, vice-mayor of Beijing, also said that authorities are discussing a 72-hour visa-free tourism pass for foreigners, which is expected to support the city's tourism sector.

Started by Beijing, the federation is the first international tourism organization headquartered in the city. It's a non-profit non-governmental organization.

The three-day meeting of the federation ended on Sep 15. Twenty-four foreign cities, 23 Chinese cities and 11 companies participated in the event.