BEIJING -- Chinese authorities on Thursday issued a notice on improving the policies of duty-free shops to boost consumption.

Effective this Saturday, the policies are designed to encourage consumers to shop in the country, according to the notice jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and four other government departments.

The measures mainly focus on four aspects, including optimizing the tax-refund and duty-free policies, as well as further expanding the range of products available in duty-free shops.

Efforts will also be made to relax the approval authority and fine-tune facilitation and supervision measures for duty-free shops, said the notice.