Money back
In short
You can claim VAT back on goods bought at a departure tax refund store if you have been in the mainland 183 consecutive days or fewer and leave within 90 days of the purchase. Ask for the Refund Application Form at the till. The refund is 11% on 13%-rated goods, less a 2% agency fee, so roughly 9% comes back.
Open the budget guideApplies to
Visitors planning to buy anything substantial in China, and anyone standing at a till wondering whether to ask for the form.
Check before you rely on it
Official pages disagree on the minimum spend. The State Council's April 2025 circular and the Shanghai tax service say 200 yuan; Chongqing's page dated June 2026 still says 500. Budget for 500.
Information checked:
The refund is decided at the till, not at the airport. If nobody issued you a form when you paid, there is nothing for customs to stamp on the way out.
From till to gate
What actually reaches you
The headline rate and the number that lands in your hand are not the same thing.
For goods taxed at 13% the refund rate is 11% of the VAT-inclusive invoice amount; for goods taxed at 9% it is 8%. The refund agency then charges 2% of the same invoice amount as its service charge, and you receive the difference. On a 13%-rated purchase that is about 9% of what you paid.
Payment is in renminbi. Up to 20,000 yuan you can choose cash or a bank transfer; above that it has to be a transfer.
Do I qualify?
Fail any one of them and the form is worthless at the port, however much you spent.
| Condition | Requirement | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are | 183 consecutive days or fewer | Overseas visitors means foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who have resided in the Chinese mainland for no more than 183 consecutive days before the date of departure. |
| How much you spent | 200 yuan at one store on one day | The Shanghai tax service guide and the April 2025 national circular both state 200 yuan of tax-refundable goods at the same store on the same day. Chongqing's page dated June 2026 still prints 500 yuan. |
| How soon you leave | Within 90 days of purchase | The departure date must be no more than 90 days from the date the tax-refundable goods were purchased. Taking an instant refund adds a tighter 28-day limit on top. |
| What state the goods are in | Unused, and with you | The goods must not have been used or consumed, and must be carried by you or checked as your luggage when you depart. |
The shop offered to pay me on the spot
This is the one part of the scheme that can cost you money rather than save it.
Under refund upon purchase you sign an agreement, give a credit card pre-authorization and walk out with the money. You then have 28 days to leave China and complete the departure formalities, a limit now standardised nationwide, and you have to leave through an agreed port. Miss either condition and the refund agency recovers the advance through that pre-authorization within three business days after the promised departure date expires. If you later depart properly, the refund is processed then. Instant refunds are now recognised across regions, so buying in one city and leaving from another is allowed.
China refines departure tax refund policy to encourage inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2025-04-27, read 2026-07-25)Clause by clause · read October 6, 2026
Everything above is reported on government pages. These are the instruments themselves, with their document numbers and numbered articles: the six-department notice that created the July 2026 measures, and the tax administration's notice implementing them, which adds an online review from 1 September 2026, a nationwide service code that shows you where your refund is, and paper on request.
| What it means for you | As published | Document and article |
|---|---|---|
| Under 10,000 yuan of refund sales, customs now inspects a sample From 1 July 2026 refund application forms below 10,000 yuan are picked for physical verification at a set ratio rather than every one being opened; forms of 10,000 yuan and above are still checked one by one. Read the threshold carefully: it is 退税销售额, the refund sales amount written on the form, not the refund you receive. A 9,000-yuan handbag sits under it; the roughly 800 yuan you get back is not the number that counts. | 自2026年7月1日起，对退税销售额1万元以下的退税申请单，按一定比例随机抽取进行实物验核。对退税销售额1万元及以上的退税申请单，仍逐单进行实物验核。 | Article 2 (二、实行小额抽检制) 商消费发2026年第74号 商务部等6部门关于加力优化离境退税措施扩大入境消费的通知 Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and Five Other Departments on Strengthening and Optimising Departure Tax Refund Measures to Expand Inbound Consumption Signed by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration and the National Immigration Administration, with State Council approval. Read in full on the State Taxation Administration's own policy and regulation library. 成文日期 2026-05-12Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 This is the instrument behind the 2026 package. The State Council English news page this site also cites is dated 2026-05-19 and reports a press conference — it is coverage of this document, six days after the document itself. |
| The 28 days are an extension, and the port does not have to be the one you bought in This is the clause behind the 28-day clock on an instant refund. Two things are worth knowing from the wording. The requirement was extended and standardised to 28 days across the country — it is a loosening of shorter local deadlines, not a new restriction. And a traveller who took the money at the till may complete the departure refund formalities at a port away from where they shopped, which is what makes a buy-in-Guangzhou, fly-from-Shanghai trip workable. | 进一步优化“即买即退”服务，推动“即买即退”异地互认，办理“即买即退”业务的旅客可以在异地口岸办结离境退税业务。统一延长各地“即买即退”离境期限要求至28天。 | Article 3 (三、优化“即买即退”服务) 商消费发2026年第74号 商务部等6部门关于加力优化离境退税措施扩大入境消费的通知 Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and Five Other Departments on Strengthening and Optimising Departure Tax Refund Measures to Expand Inbound Consumption Signed by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration and the National Immigration Administration, with State Council approval. Read in full on the State Taxation Administration's own policy and regulation library. 成文日期 2026-05-12Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 This is the instrument behind the 2026 package. The State Council English news page this site also cites is dated 2026-05-19 and reports a press conference — it is coverage of this document, six days after the document itself. |
| Customs and the agency may confirm your form online From the same 1 July 2026 date, customs and the refund agencies are allowed to confirm the application form and the sales invoice online and process the refund that way, so the whole chain can run without paper. What this does not do is remove the stop at the port: it changes how the form is confirmed, not whether you turn up with the goods. | 自2026年7月1日起，允许海关、代理机构对退税申请单、退税物品销售发票进行线上确认并办理退税，实现退税全流程无纸化办理。 | Article 4 (四、推行退税无纸化办理) 商消费发2026年第74号 商务部等6部门关于加力优化离境退税措施扩大入境消费的通知 Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and Five Other Departments on Strengthening and Optimising Departure Tax Refund Measures to Expand Inbound Consumption Signed by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration and the National Immigration Administration, with State Council approval. Read in full on the State Taxation Administration's own policy and regulation library. 成文日期 2026-05-12Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 This is the instrument behind the 2026 package. The State Council English news page this site also cites is dated 2026-05-19 and reports a press conference — it is coverage of this document, six days after the document itself. |
| Where a city page still shows an older deadline, this notice governs Earlier departmental and local rules that conflict with this notice are superseded by it. That is worth having in writing when a provincial page still prints an instant-refund departure deadline shorter than 28 days, or still says every sub-10,000-yuan form is opened. It reaches no further than that: the notice says nothing about the minimum spend or the cash ceiling, so it cannot settle the 200-versus-500 disagreement this page publishes below. | 此前有关部门和地方人民政府出台的相关规定与本通知不一致的，以本通知为准。 | Final paragraph 商消费发2026年第74号 商务部等6部门关于加力优化离境退税措施扩大入境消费的通知 Notice of the Ministry of Commerce and Five Other Departments on Strengthening and Optimising Departure Tax Refund Measures to Expand Inbound Consumption Signed by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the General Administration of Customs, the State Taxation Administration and the National Immigration Administration, with State Council approval. Read in full on the State Taxation Administration's own policy and regulation library. 成文日期 2026-05-12Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 This is the instrument behind the 2026 package. The State Council English news page this site also cites is dated 2026-05-19 and reports a press conference — it is coverage of this document, six days after the document itself. |
| If you want the paperwork on paper, the store has to give it to you The verb is 应 — shall. Where a traveller wants paper departure-refund documents, the refund store is required to provide them. So going paperless is the default the system is built around, not something you can be forced into: if you would rather hold the form and the invoice in your hand at the airport than trust a record on a phone you might lose, you can ask, and the store owes you them. | 若境外旅客有获取纸质离境退税资料的需求，退税商店应予以提供。 | Article 1, final sentence (一、落实离境退税无纸化办理要求，简化业务办理手续) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
| Some forms are flagged for checking and some are exempt outright The paperless chain is set out stage by stage: the store may issue an electronic application form and an electronic sales invoice at the till; at verification, where the system flags a form, customs checks it online against your identity document, the goods and the electronic records, and where the system marks a form exempt, customs need not verify it at all; at review, the agency can process the refund online from the identity document and those records. The exemption is the part travellers never hear about — being waved through is a published outcome, not a lucky queue. | 购物开单环节，支持退税商店向境外旅客开具离境退税电子申请单、退税物品销售电子发票等资料（以下称电子资料）；验核环节，对于系统提示需验核的，海关凭境外旅客有效身份证件、退税物品及电子资料即可开展线上验核，对于系统提示免于验核的，海关无需验核；审核环节，代理机构凭有效身份证件及电子资料即可线上审核办理退税；税务结算环节，代理机构可留存电子资料。 | Article 1 (一、落实离境退税无纸化办理要求，简化业务办理手续) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
| From 1 September 2026 the till can upload your ID and the paperwork is reviewed online When a store issues an instant-refund application form it may upload your valid identity document, and the agency where the form was issued then completes the document review online. Note the two edges of this. The document says 有效身份证件, a valid identity document — not specifically a passport, so a mainland travel permit or a residence permit is inside the wording. And the agency at your departure port still checks your identity and still settles the refund under the existing rules: the paperwork step moved online, the airport step did not disappear. | 自2026年9月1日起，退税商店开具“即买即退”申请单时，可通过上传境外旅客有效身份证件，开单地代理机构在线完成离境退税资料审核；离境地代理机构对境外旅客身份信息进行核对并按现行规定办结退税。 | Article 2 (二、优化“即买即退”办理流程，助力异地业务互认) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
| One code now shows you the form, the invoice, the progress and the money The tax administration has extended the existing refund information-entry QR code into a nationwide departure tax refund service code. You scan it to enter your details, and you can then see online four things that were previously invisible once you handed the form over: the application form, the sales invoice for the refund items, how far the refund has got, and the state of the money being paid back. Stores scan the same code to fill the form at the till, and both customs verification and the agency's review can pull the form up by scanning it. The notice attaches no start date to this article, so treat it as what the document establishes rather than as something switched on a particular day. | 拓展形成全国通用的离境退税服务码，支持境外旅客扫码录入信息办理离境退税，并在线查看离境退税申请单、退税物品销售发票、离境退税办理进度、资金退付情况。购物开单环节，退税商店可通过扫码自动采集境外旅客预录信息，实现高效快速开单；海关验核和代理机构审核环节，均可通过扫码调取境外旅客的离境退税申请单，按规定办理离境退税业务。 | Article 4 (四、推广全国离境退税服务码，提高办理智能化水平) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
| Online shopping with a refund is a pilot of one or two stores per province Online stores can now be refund stores, but only as a trial: a province that wants to take part may select one or two applicant stores, and only stores able to connect to the 乐企 platform. No list of pilot stores is published anywhere. So do not plan an online purchase around claiming the tax back — buy in a physical refund store and ask at the till, as the rest of this page describes. | 有试点意愿的地区可依据退税商店申请选取1-2家试点商店，依托税务总局统一标准的系统接口和技术规范，做好离境退税网上商店与乐企平台等系统对接 | Article 3 (三、推进网上商店离境退税试点，拓宽离境退税购物渠道) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
| A store caught running proxy-purchase schemes stops being a refund store A refund store found taking part in or organising proxy purchasing or smuggling goods back into the mainland has its refund-store registration terminated on discovery. The reason this matters to a shopper rather than to a shop: the store you bought from can lose that status between your purchase and your flight. It is one more reason to get the form and the invoices in hand on the day, instead of planning to go back for them. | 对参与或组织套代购、走私回流等违法违规行为的退税商店，一经发现，终止其退税商店备案资格，并依法依规处理。 | Article 5 (五、强化离境退税风险防控，确保业务合规办理) 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号 国家税务总局关于优化离境退税服务推动政策规范落实的通知 Notice of the State Taxation Administration on Optimising Departure Tax Refund Services and Promoting Standardised Implementation of the Policy State Taxation Administration, in its own 政策法规库 (policy and regulation library), column 工作通知, signed 国家税务总局 and dated in the document itself. 成文日期 2026-07-13Open the full text, read 2026-10-06 Issued to implement 商消费发2026年第74号, which it names and links in its opening paragraph. The library published it 2026-08-25; the document's own date is 2026-07-13, and that is the date the document number refers to. |
The published facts
Each line links the source page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
Foreigners and compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who reside in the Chinese mainland for no more than 183 consecutive days before the date of departure. Valid ID means a passport or an equivalent travel permit that shows or can produce your last entry date.
A Guide to the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, page dated 2025-05-24, read 2026-07-25)
Spend at least 200 yuan on tax-refundable goods at the same tax-free store on the same day, do not use or consume the goods, depart no more than 90 days after the purchase date, and carry the goods with you or in your checked luggage.
A Guide to the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, page dated 2025-05-24, read 2026-07-25)
For items at the 13% VAT rate the refund rate is 11%; for items at 9% it is 8%. The refund is calculated on the invoice amount including VAT, and since April 2019 that has been the basis of the calculation.
A Guide to the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, page dated 2025-05-24, read 2026-07-25)
Chongqing publishes the formula: refundable VAT is the VAT-inclusive invoice amount times the refund rate, the service charge is the same invoice amount times 2%, and the net refund is the difference. Beijing states the same 2% commission.
Tax Refund at Departure (Chongqing Municipal People's Government English portal, page dated 2026-06-09, read 2026-07-25)
Refunds are paid in renminbi. Up to 20,000 yuan you may choose cash or a bank transfer; above 20,000 yuan it has to be a bank transfer. The April 2025 circular is what raised the cash ceiling to 20,000.
A Guide to the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, page dated 2025-05-24, read 2026-07-25)
A circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and five other departments lowered the minimum to 200 yuan spent at the same store on the same day, made refunds payable by mobile payment, bank card or cash, and raised the cash ceiling to 20,000 yuan.
Page dated 27 April 2025 · China refines departure tax refund policy to encourage inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2025-04-27, read 2026-07-25)
Travellers who use refund upon purchase have 28 days to leave China and complete the departure tax refund procedures, a limit now standardised nationwide. The tax authority states the same 28 days on its own site.
Page dated 19 May 2026 · China improves departure tax refund services to boost inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2026-05-19, read 2026-07-25)
Under refund upon purchase you sign an agreement and give a credit card pre-authorization. If you exceed the promised departure period or leave from a port other than the agreed one, the agency recovers the advance payment through that pre-authorization within three business days after the promised departure date expires.
Tax Refund at Departure (Chongqing Municipal People's Government English portal, page dated 2026-06-09, read 2026-07-25)
The instant refund service has been upgraded to work across regions. Buy and claim in Guangzhou, then leave from a port in another province, and customs inspection and the release of the pre-authorization happen there instead of back where you bought.
Page dated 4 June 2026 · Upgraded Tax Refund Policy Makes "Shopping in China" Easier (State Taxation Administration, page dated 2026-06-04, read 2026-07-25)
Refund application forms involving sales of less than 10,000 yuan are subject to random physical inspection at a set ratio; forms of 10,000 yuan or more are still inspected one by one. From the same date, customs and the agencies may verify forms and invoices online and process refunds without paper, though the paper channel remains available.
Upgraded Tax Refund Policy Makes "Shopping in China" Easier (State Taxation Administration, page dated 2026-06-04, read 2026-07-25)
Valid identity documents, the VAT invoices for the refund items, and the Refund Application Form for Overseas Visitors verified and stamped by customs. Then the tax refund agency inside the restricted zone processes the payment.
Page dated 1 April 2023 · Departure Tax Refund Guide for Overseas Tourists (Beijing Municipal People's Government, page dated 2023-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
Beijing publishes its refund points as the T2 and T3 departure tax refund windows at Beijing Capital International Airport and the window at Beijing Daxing International Airport, run by Bank of China Beijing Branch as the refund agency.
Departure Tax Refund Guide for Overseas Tourists (Beijing Municipal People's Government, page dated 2023-04-01, read 2026-07-25)
Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping told the May 2026 press conference that agencies including Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China have developed self-service tax refund machines for use in shopping malls. Read the sentence as it stands: an open list of banks rather than those two alone, machines developed for use in malls rather than a machine confirmed in the mall you are heading to, and a minister's statement rather than a clause of a regulation. Ask at the mall's service desk before counting on one.
Press conference of 18 May 2026, reported 19 May 2026 · China improves departure tax refund services to boost inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2026-05-19, read 2026-07-25)
Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing are China's five international consumption centre cities, and in 2025 they accounted for one third of inbound foreign visits and two thirds of all departure tax refund sales nationally, a Ministry of Commerce official said at the same press conference. That is where the refund stores and the refund desks are thickest on the ground. It is a figure about those cities, not about any particular airport counter.
2025 figures, reported 19 May 2026 · China improves departure tax refund services to boost inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2026-05-19, read 2026-07-25)
Goods in the Catalog of Items Prohibited and Restricted from Entering and Exiting China, which covers gold and silver and products made from them, currencies and securities, radio transceivers, precious traditional Chinese medicines and cultural relics, plus VAT-exempt goods sold at tax-free stores.
A Guide to the Departure Tax Refund for Overseas Visitors (Shanghai Municipal Tax Service, State Taxation Administration, page dated 2025-05-24, read 2026-07-25)
Since the April 2025 measures the number of travellers applying for refunds rose 367% year on year, and both the sales of tax-refunded goods and the amount refunded rose 90%. Expect the counter to be busy.
China improves departure tax refund services to boost inbound consumption (The State Council of the People's Republic of China (English portal), page dated 2026-05-19, read 2026-07-25)
In short
What people ask before they buy, and what they wish they had asked at the till.
If you have been in the mainland 183 consecutive days or fewer, bought at a departure tax refund store, spent enough at one store on one day, have not used the goods, and are leaving within 90 days of the purchase, then yes. You claim it at the departure port, or at the till if the store offers refund upon purchase.
The April 2025 national circular and the Shanghai tax service guide both say 200 yuan at the same store on the same day. Chongqing's government page dated 9 June 2026 still says 500 yuan. Until that disagreement resolves, plan for 500 and treat 200 as the better case.
The refund rate is 11% of the VAT-inclusive invoice for goods taxed at 13%, and 8% for goods taxed at 9%. The refund agency then takes 2% of the same invoice amount as its service charge. So on a 13% item you are looking at roughly 9% of what you paid.
Ask whether the shop is a departure tax refund store before you pay, then ask for the Refund Application Form for Overseas Visitors and keep the sales invoices. Without the form and the invoices there is nothing to process at the airport.
You sign an agreement and give a credit card pre-authorization. You then have 28 days to leave China and complete the departure formalities, and you have to leave through an agreed port. Miss either and the agency charges the advance back to your card within three business days of the promised departure date.
Yes, and they must be unused and either carried with you or checked as your luggage. From 1 July 2026 customs inspects forms under 10,000 yuan on a random basis and forms of 10,000 yuan or more one by one, so allow time either way.
Up to 20,000 yuan you can choose cash or a bank transfer. Above 20,000 yuan it has to be a bank transfer. Beijing's guide also lists Weixin and Alipay as payout methods at its own windows.
The tax administration has extended its refund information-entry QR code into a nationwide departure tax refund service code. You scan it to enter your details, and it then shows you four things online: your application form, the sales invoice for the refund items, how far the refund has got, and the state of the money being paid back. Stores scan the same code at the till, and customs and the refund agency can pull your form up by scanning it. That is 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号, Article 4 — which attaches no start date to the code, so ask at the till whether the store is using it.
You can insist on paper. 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号, Article 1 ends with the line that where an overseas traveller wants paper departure-refund documents, the refund store shall provide them. Paperless is what the system is being built around — the same article lets customs verify flagged forms online and lets the agency review the refund online, and it says customs need not verify forms the system marks exempt — but holding the form and the invoice in your hand remains your call, not the store's.
Yes. From 1 September 2026, when a store issues an instant-refund form it may upload your valid identity document so that the agency where the form was issued does the document review online — 税总货劳发〔2026〕37号, Article 2. The same clause keeps the departure step: the agency at your port of exit checks your identity and settles the refund under the existing rules. The notice says identity document, not passport, so a travel permit or residence permit is inside the wording. And the 28-day clock and the card pre-authorization on an instant refund are unchanged.
Not published
Two official pages disagree on the threshold. That disagreement is printed here rather than resolved by guesswork.
What a China trip actually costs, and where the money goes before the refund window.
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