This year's CIFIT featured the fair's first-ever dedicated departure tax refund service zone at the shopping area of the Xiamen International Expo Center.

Outside the fair venue, CIFIT partnered with the Xiamen MixC shopping mall as its designated shopping district, where a number of stores offer departure tax refund services. Free shuttle buses ran between the expo center and the shopping complex, giving international attendees access to shopping options and helping turn visitor traffic generated by the fair into consumer spending.