(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- The number of overseas visitors who applied for tax refunds when leaving China soared 230 percent in the first nine months of this year from a year ago, mainly thanks to more tourists and simplified procedures.

In addition, the amount of tax refunds almost doubled in the period, according to data released by the State Taxation Administration today.

China introduced the departure tax refund policy to boost foreign tourists' spending in 2015. Under the policy, overseas visitors can apply for refunds of the value-added tax on items they have bought at tax refund stores at air and sea ports. The standard VAT rate in the country is 13 percent.

Immigration authorities inspected 510 million people entering and leaving China in the nine months ended Sept. 30, up 14 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the National Immigration Administration. The number of foreigners that entered and left the country jumped 22 percent to more than 20.1 million last quarter from a year ago.

China also launched a "refund on purchase" policy in some test areas, under which foreign tourists who buy items at selected tax refund stores in regions where the departure tax refund policy is implemented can claim a prepayment equivalent to the refund amount based on related procedures. In April, the STA issued a document to expand this policy nationwide.

Tax regulators are exploring the establishment of centralized refund points for the refund on purchase policy in big shopping districts in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and other major Chinese cities, to enable overseas visitors to "shop at different stores but get refunds at one point".

Shanghai and Hangzhou have launched new functions to make the refund process more efficient, including "apply on mobile devices" for departure tax refunds and "claim refunds by one click" on Alipay, the mobile payment platform of Chinese fintech giant Ant Group.

Editor: Martin Kadiev