Recently, the Zhangjiajie Municipal Tax Service of the State Taxation Administration released "A Guide for the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors" in 17 languages (including Korean, German, and French), further optimizing the consumption environment and enhancing the shopping experience for international visitors.

The handbook covers departure tax refund policies, eligible goods, application conditions, and procedures, accompanied by flowcharts. The document highlights the advantages of the "instant tax refund" policy and the maximum refund rate of 11%. The languages available are selected based on Zhangjiajie's actual visitor statistics. The brochures will be made available at Zhangjiajie Hehua International Airport, business districts, and core scenic area service centers.

This initiative represents a pragmatic step taken by Zhangjiajie to continuously foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment, while further refining services to foreign visitors. In recent years, the CPC Zhangjiajie Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Zhangjiajie City have prioritized and coordinated these tasks, guiding multiple departments, including the taxation authority, to collaborate in integrating better services into the internationalization of the cultural and tourism sectors. Zhangjiajie's 12366 tax service hotline has already provided support in English for non-Chinese speakers and has introduced intelligent translation, establishing a multi-tiered, multilingual advisory network that provides services for foreign nationals traveling, working, or living in the city.

In 2025, Zhangjiajie received 1.3303 million international tourist trips from 192 countries and regions, marking a year-on-year increase of 32.79%. Total spending by international tourists reached 746 million USD, representing growth of 20.83%. Incomplete statistics indicate that visitors from European and American countries totaled nearly 300,000, a 260% increase compared to the previous year.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Xiao Juan

Chinese source: hunantoday