Making payment increasingly convenient for foreign tourists and improving the departure tax refund service constitute an important part of Qingdao’s efforts to translate “inbound tourists” into “growth in consumption”. Data from the People’s Bank of China Qingdao Branch show that in the January-April period, a monthly average of 26,000 foreign tourists used mobile payment across the city, surging 120% year on year, and the number and the amount of transactions soared 200% over the same period last year.

As one of 17 major Chinese cities committing to improve payment services, Qingdao works unremittingly to diversify payment services and widen payment scenarios in line with the principle of “swiping bank cards when large amounts are consumed, scanning payment codes when petty amounts are involved, and making payment in cash whenever necessary”. To date, more than 5,000 major merchants in the city accept payment with foreign bank cards, the coverage of which has reached as high as 99.98%. Over 2,400 ATMs of 18 key banks all offer cash withdrawal services for foreign bank cards, and more than 1,000 institutions provide foreign currency exchange services.

In view of foreign tourists’ activity trajectory and high-frequency payment scenarios, Qingdao has set up five first-rate service areas for payment facilitation, including Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport, “Sanjiangli” and Sifang Road Pedestrian Street in Zhongshan Road Neighborhood, and Qingdao Taidong Pedestrian Street. In addition to payment facilitation, the thoughtful departure tax refund policy adopted by Qingdao is serving as a new engine to tap consumption potential for inbound tourism. Qingdao Hisense Plaza and Liqun Group have signed agreements and launched the “immediate tax refund upon purchase” service. The service brings forward tax refund from the time of departure to purchasing sites, thereby reducing the time cost, and better meeting foreign tourists’ demand for shopping to nurture “secondary consumption”.  (Fu Jun)