Guangzhou Duty-Free: Buy in the City, Collect at Baiyun
Last checked October 28, 2026 against official sources. How we check
Quick answer
Guangzhou's downtown duty-free store is at ground level in the Friendship IFC store, No. 5 Zhujiang West Road, Tianhe. If you fly out of China, or leave China on an international cruise, within 60 days of buying, you can buy tax-free. A domestic flight does not count. You collect the goods at Baiyun T2 or T3 after border control.
Next steps
Key facts
| Where | Friendship IFC store (广州友谊国金店), ground floor, No. 5 Zhujiang West Road, Tianhe |
|---|---|
| Who can buy duty-free | Anyone flying out of China, or leaving China on an international cruise, within 60 days, with the ticket already bought; domestic flights do not count |
| Where to collect | Baiyun T2, East 5 area, about 350 m from border control; T3, about 220 m from border control |
| Spending limit | None, but quantities must be for personal use (customs rule) |
| Metro | Zhujiang New Town, Lines 3 and 5, about 210 m away by map |
What is the downtown duty-free store?
Guangzhou’s first city duty-free store (市内免税店) opened on August 26, 2025, at ground level in the Friendship IFC store in Zhujiang New Town. It is one of the first 8 new city duty-free stores in China, run by China Duty Free Group with Guangbai, Lingnan Holdings and Baiyun Airport (Guangzhou government, August 27, 2025). The Guangzhou government said in August 2026 that it was still open, a year on (city news).
The store has two sections:
- Duty-free section. You pay no tax, but you must be leaving China soon, and you collect the goods at the airport.
- Duty-paid section. Anyone can shop here and take the goods away. Overseas visitors can claim an instant tax refund at the store.
Duty-free and the tax refund are two different schemes:
| Duty-free (this store) | Departure tax refund | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you buy | The city duty-free store, or the airport’s duty-free shops | Any registered refund store with the 退税商店 TAX FREE sign |
| What you save | The tax in the price, at the till | 11% or 8% of the price, minus a handling fee, paid back when you leave, or on the spot with an instant refund |
| Conditions | Ticket already bought; buy in the city you leave from; no spending limit | Spend ¥200 or more in one refund store on one day, and leave within 90 days, or 28 after an instant refund |
| Who can buy | Anyone flying out of China, or leaving China on an international cruise, within 60 days | Visitors in mainland China for no more than 183 days in a row |
| When you get the goods | At the airport, after border control | In the store, straight away |
To claim a VAT refund on regular purchases, see our tax refund guide.
Who can buy duty-free?
Under the national rules for city duty-free stores, you can buy if all of these apply (interim measures, Article 3):
- You leave China within 60 days, counting the 60th day, by aircraft or international cruise ship. A domestic flight does not count. The rules apply to all travellers, “including but not limited to” Chinese nationals.
- You have already bought the ticket.
- You hold a valid travel document, such as a passport or a Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan travel permit.
- You buy in the city you leave from. For this store, that means a flight from Baiyun Airport (Baiyun Airport, August 2025).
There is no spending limit, but the quantities must be for personal use and reasonable. The goods may not be resold in China (Articles 5 and 6).
How do you buy and collect?
- Bring your passport and your flight details. You give both when you pay (Guangzhou government).
- Pay in the store. The store sends your goods, sealed, to the pick-up point in the departure zone at the airport.
- Go through border control at Baiyun on the day you fly. The pick-up points are after it.
- Collect at the counter. Staff check your travel document, the purchase receipt and your boarding pass. They confirm that you are the buyer, then hand over the goods (customs measures, Article 13).
- Take everything with you. You may not leave goods at the airport to collect when you come back (interim measures, Article 2).
| Terminal | Pick-up point |
|---|---|
| T2 | International departures hall, East 5 area, about 350 m from border control |
| T3 | International departures hall, about 220 m from border control |
The locations are from Baiyun Airport’s post of August 29, 2025. Check which terminal your airline uses in our Baiyun terminals guide.
Photo: Tim Wu · CC BY-SA 4.0 DetailsWhat if your flight changes?
The customs measures (Article 14) cover these cases:
- Your flight is delayed or cancelled after you collect. If you have to leave the departure zone, hand the goods back to the pick-up point. Collect them again when you return to fly.
- You move your flight. If the new departure is within 60 days of the purchase date, the store can move your pick-up.
- The new departure is more than 60 days after you bought. The store processes a return.
- You cancel the trip. The store processes a return.
What does the store sell?
The city’s August 2025 posts list beauty products, watches and jewellery, bags and luggage, premium spirits, Chinese brands and electronics (Guangzhou Commerce Bureau). Brands named include SK-II, Estée Lauder, Lancôme, Hennessy, Macallan, Moutai, Huawei and Samsonite.
Since November 1, 2025, a national notice (Caiguanshui [2025] No. 19) has:
- let duty-free stores add mobile phones, micro drones, sports goods, health foods, over-the-counter medicines and pet food (item II(1));
- asked them to give at least a quarter of their space to Chinese products (item I(4));
- let city duty-free stores take online pre-orders, which you collect at the pick-up point (item IV(1)).
We could not see which of the new categories the IFC store stocks, or whether it takes online pre-orders.
Paying. The Commerce Bureau said in August 2025 that the store accepts foreign cards and cash in several foreign currencies, and has a currency exchange point. For paying elsewhere in the city, see Alipay and WeChat Pay for visitors.
How do you get there?
The store is at No. 5 Zhujiang West Road (珠江西路5号), Tianhe, in the Guangzhou International Finance Center. By map, Zhujiang New Town station on Metro Lines 3 and 5 is about 210 m away in a straight line (OpenStreetMap). For a taxi, show the driver 广州友谊国金店 with our Show your driver cards.
Photo: そらみみ · CC BY-SA 4.0. Huacheng Square, Tianhe DetailsFor more places to shop nearby, see our guide to malls and shopping streets.
What does Baiyun Airport have?
Baiyun also has its own duty-free shops after border control, run by China Duty Free Group (CDF). Before Terminal 3 opened, the city said it would have a 2,800 m² duty-free zone (Guangzhou government, April 2025). We found no official list of the airport’s brands or opening hours.
If you bring duty-free goods back into China later, customs treats them as goods you are bringing in (interim measures, Article 5). See our guide to customs allowances for arriving travellers.
What we could not confirm
- Opening hours of the IFC store and of the airport pick-up counters.
- Prices, including a price list for spirits.
- A cruise pick-up point at Nansha. The rules allow cruise departures, but we found no official pick-up point there.
- Pre-ordering in the store and collecting at Baiyun’s arrival duty-free shop. The November 2025 notice allows this where a city has an arrival duty-free shop. We found no Guangzhou source that offers it.
Traps and how to avoid them
- Avoid Buying duty-free for a domestic flight
Only departures that leave China count (interim measures, Article 3). A flight from Guangzhou to another mainland city does not qualify.
- Avoid Buying duty-free for the train to Hong Kong
The rules cover departures by aircraft or international cruise ship only. The high-speed train to West Kowloon does not qualify.
- Avoid Buying here for a flight from Shenzhen or Hong Kong
You must buy in the city you leave from. The Guangzhou store's pick-up points are at Baiyun Airport, so a flight from another city does not work.
- Avoid Sending someone else to collect your goods
The buyer and the person who collects must be the same person, and the collector shows their own travel document (customs measures, Articles 9 and 13).
- Avoid Arriving at the pick-up counter without your boarding pass
Staff check your travel document, the purchase receipt and your boarding pass before they hand over the goods.
- Avoid Planning to collect the goods on your way back in
Goods cannot be stored at the airport for your return trip. You collect them on departure and take everything out in one go. The only exception is a delay or cancellation after you collect.
FAQ
Is duty-free the same as a tax refund?
No. At a duty-free store you pay no tax at the till and collect the goods at the airport when you leave. A tax refund gives you back part of the VAT on goods you buy at the normal price in a refund store. The IFC store's duty-paid section offers the refund too.
Can foreigners shop at the Guangzhou duty-free store?
Yes. The national rules cover travellers leaving China by air or international cruise within 60 days, including but not limited to Chinese nationals, and name the passport as a valid document.
How long before my flight can I buy?
Up to 60 days before you leave China, counting the 60th day, as long as you have already bought the ticket. The store records your flight or cruise details when you pay.
What happens if my flight changes?
If the new departure is within 60 days of the purchase date, the store can move your pick-up. If it is later, or you cancel the trip, the store processes a return, under the customs measures.
Is there a limit on how much I can buy?
No spending limit is set, but the quantities must be for personal use and reasonable, under the customs rules for travellers' luggage. The goods may not be resold in China.
Where can I see prices?
We found no price list from the store or the operators, including for spirits. Check in the store.
Sources
- Central government portal: Ministry of Finance and four other departments, notice on city duty-free shops, Caiguanshui [2024] No. 19, with the interim measures (August 20, 2024, in force October 1, 2024; Chinese)
- Ministry of Finance: interim measures for city duty-free shops, attachment 1 (60 days, pick-up in the departure zone, no purchase limit; PDF, Chinese)
- China News Service: full text of the customs measures for city duty-free shops, as published by the General Administration of Customs (September 29, 2024; Chinese)
- Guangzhou government: Ministry of Finance and four other departments, notice on duty-free shops, Caiguanshui [2025] No. 19 (online pre-orders, new categories; in force November 1, 2025; Chinese)
- Guangzhou government, from Guangzhou Daily: Guangzhou's first city duty-free store opens on August 26 (buying and pick-up steps; Chinese)
- Guangzhou government, from Guangzhou Daily: the store opens at Friendship IFC, 2,357 m², operators (August 27, 2025; Chinese)
- Guangzhou Commerce Bureau: the store at No. 5 Zhujiang West Road, products, foreign cards and currency exchange (August 28, 2025; Chinese)
- Guangzhou Airport Economic Zone, from Baiyun Airport: pick-up points at T2 and T3 and their distance from border control (August 29, 2025; Chinese)
- Guangzhou government, English: downtown duty-free shop marks its first anniversary, duty-paid section and instant tax refund (updated August 27, 2026)
- Guangzhou government, English: Baiyun Terminal 3 plans, including a 2,800 m² duty-free zone (April 27, 2025)
- China Duty Free Group: Guangzhou airport duty-free shop (undated)
- OpenStreetMap: Guangzhou Friendship store (IFC) and Zhujiang New Town station, straight-line distance (data read October 28, 2026)
Update history
- : First version, from the 2024 and 2025 national notices, the customs measures for city duty-free shops and the Guangzhou government's and Baiyun Airport's posts on the IFC store.
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