Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

SHENZHEN has further expanded its tax refund program for eligible outbound travelers by adding the Luohu Checkpoint, the city’s largest and most historic land border crossing with Hong Kong. This addition has brought the total number of duty-free ports in the city to six, creating a comprehensive network that spans from east to west and covers all major entry and exit ports.

The new tax refund facility at the Luohu Checkpoint is the largest of its kind in the nation. It features a 400-square-meter service area equipped with 10 customs inspection counters and eight tax counters, making it the port with the most service windows for departure tax refund processing in China.

Ms. Law, a resident from Hong Kong, became the first traveler to utilize the new service at the Luohu Checkpoint on Thursday morning. “The whole process was much faster than I expected. It took less than three minutes,” said Law, who bought a power bank at Sundan, an electronics and home appliances retail chain.

According to Law, it was her first time applying for a departure tax refund on the Chinese mainland. She noted that with the convenience of the tax refund service, she is now considering purchasing electronics in addition to clothes and food.

The launch reflects a significant surge in the popularity of the departure tax refund program in Shenzhen. In the first half of this year, the city saw remarkable growth in both sales value and transaction volume for tax-refundable goods.

Official statistics show that sales of refundable items and the number of transactions processed increased by 1.6 times and 3.9 times year on year, respectively. Notably, sales under the “refund-upon-purchase” scheme skyrocketed by over 25 times. The most popular items among eligible visitors — both foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan — included digital products, bags and luggage, and jewelry.

A vital gateway since China’s reform and opening up, the Luohu Checkpoint is the oldest and busiest land port between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. It serves as a core hub for the flow of people, goods, and capital within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In the first half of 2025, the Luohu Checkpoint handled over 33.7 million passenger trips, an 11.7% increase year on year, accounting for 25.9% of the city’s total and ranking first in Shenzhen and among the top ports nationally.