Joint effort helps Chinese visitors claim tax refunds

As Chinese travelers become big overseas spenders, companies are unearthing a hidden "gold mine" - the huge amount of unclaimed tax refunds.

A total of $3.86 billion in unclaimed tax refunds will be accumulated by Chinese traveling overseas this year, accounting for 20 percent of the total amount, said Hui Chengkun, president of HNA Transforex Currency Exchange, citing data from tax refund companies.

Transforex partnered with MasterCard and seven leading tax groups to launch the largest tax refund platform in Shanghai on Monday.