SHANGHAI tourist authorities are planning tax refunds for overseas tourists on purchases in designated shops, and are to open duty-free shops at the arrival areas of the city’s two cruise terminals, a conference on China’s cruise tourism development pilot zone heard yesterday.

The zone, the first of its kind in China, was approved to be set up in Shanghai by the China National Tourism Administration in September 2012.

Cruise liners bring lots of tourists to the city every year, said customs official Zhang Manxian, and it was hoped they would be encouraged to shop here.