China's diverse tourism offerings and visitor-friendly policies have attracted an increased number of overseas tourists during the summer holiday.

As of now, China's 240-hour visa-free transit policy applies to 55 countries, while nationals of 47 countries are eligible for unilateral visa-free entry.

Traveling to China with family members and friends has become a new trend in inbound tourism this summer, with Shanghai, Shenzhen, 

Guangzhou, Beijing and Chengdu ranking among the top five inbound tourist destinations.

Meanwhile, favorable policies, particularly the optimized departure tax refund policy, have spurred "China shopping" boom.

"Data of the summer vacation shows it's a new global trend to travel to China. In addition to traditional major source countries, tourists from European countries, countries along the Belt and Road and countries in the Global South are more willing to travel to China, taking it as their top choice for travel destinations. More and more tourists are willing to go to fields, leisure scenes and historical and cultural blocks to experience the good life of contemporary China in all aspects," said Dai Bin, head of the China Tourism Academy.

China unveiled a new set of measures on April 27 to further optimize its departure tax refund policy to improve the shopping experience of overseas travelers.

The minimum purchase threshold for departure tax refunds has been lowered, allowing overseas travelers to apply for a refund if they spend no less than 200 yuan (about 27.75 U.S. dollars) at the same store on the same day and meet other relevant requirements, according to a circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and five other government departments.

While ensuring proper risk management, refunds will be made available through multiple channels, including mobile payments, bank cards and cash, to better accommodate the diverse payment preferences of overseas travelers. The upper limit for cash refund has been raised to 20,000 yuan.