Chinese authorities issued a notice on a duty-free policy adjustment on Tuesday, under which a dozen downtown duty-free shops in first- and second-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province will be able to sell goods to outbound travelers, including Chinese nationals, who will depart from the Chinese mainland by air or an international cruise within 60 days.
A key differentiator in the announced terms vs earlier market expectations is that all purchases must be picked up at departure ports or airports and taken out of the country, rather than be delivered to the home directly or collected upon return, which is generally much more convenient for Chinese travelers.
Compared with airport duty-free shops, downtown duty-free shops have added scope to 1) provide more SKUs in a larger store area and longer shopping time (within 60 days before departure vs up to two hours at airport DFS), but 2) it may not be catering to local shoppers who could purchase products at current airport DFS and collect upon return from their outbound trips without having to carry their purchases along with them for their entire trip.
