On October 18, China’s State Taxation Administration, Ministry of Finance, and China Railway jointly announced that, starting November 1, China’s railway passenger service will adopt fully digitalized electronic invoices.
A transition period will be in place until September 30, 2025, during which both paper and electronic invoices will be available.
Passengers will still be able to use paper tickets for reimbursement, and organizations can account for these to deduct VAT input tax.
For passengers, the major change will be the elimination of the need to print paper tickets at train stations or kiosks. Instead, digital invoices can be obtained, viewed, downloaded, and printed directly through China Railway’s official 12306 website and mobile app.
For companies, finance teams can streamline processes such as reimbursement, accounting, archiving, and storage with the use of digital invoices, reducing the complexity of managing paper receipts and improving overall efficiency.
This shift to digitalization has already been seen in the business travel and civil aviation sectors. On June 28, 2023, China issued its first standardized air transport ticket.
Since April 2024, major travel service providers have supported the issuance of digital tickets and the integration of these systems into their platforms.
According to industry experts, one of the most notable benefit of digital invoices is cost savings, both in labor and operational expenses, such as reducing the need for ticket printing and handling.
