政府新闻
外国游客加入中国的“黄金周”购物狂欢 2025-10-08
A foreign customer checks out Huawei phones at the Huawei flagship store in Super Brand Mall.
International visitors are flocking to Shanghai's shopping districts during China's National Day holiday, snapping up everything from high-tech gadgets to traditional qipaos and driving a significant increase in tax-free sales.
The eight-day Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday period, dubbed a "super golden week" for consumption, has seen overseas shoppers joining domestic tourists in spending enthusiastically, Jiefang Daily reported today.
At the Huawei flagship store in Super Brand Mall, the store manager, surnamed Wu, reported a 20-percent increase in foreign customers compared to the May Day holiday, with each tax-free transaction ranging from 2,000 yuan (US$280) to 20,000 yuan.
"One Russian customer bought six Huawei MateBook Fold at once, spending over 120,000 yuan," Wu told local media. Spanish and Middle Eastern shoppers were also seen testing the company's latest triple-fold phones and headphones.
The shopping frenzy extends beyond electronics. At Qingzhi, a store selling designer hand creams, foreign customers account for half of all shoppers during the holiday. "International visitors particularly love our hand creams featuring Shanghai's landmark skylines," said the store manager surnamed Hu, whose store processes seven to eight tax-free transactions daily.
Shanghai's outlet malls are similarly bustling. At Bailian Qingpu Outlets, foreign visitors from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and beyond queued at sportswear brands like Nike and Adidas. A Deputy General Manager, Yin Qin, reported a 177 percent year-over-year increase in tax-free transactions during the holiday weekend, with top-spending visitors coming from Russia, the Philippines, and the United States.
Foreigners try out qipao at Manloulan, a high-end qipao retailer
Traditional Chinese fashion is also proving popular. At Manloulan, a high-end qipao retailer, a group of seven Australian women recently spent over US$15,000 on custom dresses for a wedding. "Foreign customers often research thoroughly before coming," said General Manager Chen Li. "They typically spend about two hours in our store and have a high conversion rate," according to the report.
The shopping boom has been fueled by China's expanding visa-free policies and streamlined tax-refund processes. Shanghai customs data shows tax-free applications surged 168 percent in the first eight months of 2025 compared to the same period last year.
Two new measures – sealed packaging and self-service verification – have significantly improved efficiency at ports, according to a Shanghai Customs official, adding that group processing is now three times faster.
As the first Chinese city to pilot "instant tax refunds" in 2019, Shanghai now has 587 tax-free shops, 284 of which offer immediate cash refunds to international shoppers, further boosting the city's appeal as a global shopping destination.
Source: Shanghai Daily
