Ningbo Airport Customs officers process a departure tax refund for a traveler. [Photo/Wang Haifen for Tide News]

Ningbo Airport Customs processed 313 departure tax refund applications from overseas travelers in the first five months of this year, with the value of tax-refund-eligible goods reaching 16.51 million yuan ($2.43 million).

The two figures rose 120.42 percent and 94.17 percent year-on-year, respectively.

To improve the tax refund experience for overseas travelers, Ningbo Airport Customs has introduced a series of services and strengthened coordination with tax and banking authorities. Real-time data sharing, faster goods verification, and immediate system processing have helped shorten handling time.

The customs office has also placed guidance signs at check-in counters and entry-exit channels. More officers with foreign-language skills, including English and Korean, have been assigned to outbound declaration counters to provide one-stop support for verification and policy consultation.

On May 18, several central government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, announced eight measures to improve departure tax refund services. The new rules, which will take effect on July 1, include wider nationwide use of in-store tax refund services, an extension of the departure verification period to 28 days, and simplified spot checks for small refunds under 10,000 yuan.

The measures are expected to ease bottlenecks for overseas visitors traveling across cities and claiming refunds in different places, while moving China's departure tax refund system toward more paperless and standardized services.