SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China has broadened a tax refund scheme for overseas visitors to make it nationwide in a bid to attract tourists and boost domestic consumption, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported late on Friday.
Under the plan, foreign tourists as well as visitors from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan who have lived on the mainland for no more than 183 days are eligible for an 11 percent rebate on consumer goods purchased at designated department stores, it said.
"The expansion of the programme will spur inbound trips and boost the export of China-made commodities," it quoted Liu Shangxi, a senior Finance Ministry researcher, as saying.
The minimum purchase is 500 yuan at any one store in one day, the report said. Xinhua did not give further details.
A pilot tax refund programme was launched in Hainan Province at the start of 2011.