Recipients of expensive, but unwanted holiday gifts are turning to "gift-recycling" businesses for help getting rid of the things they don't want.

At Xiumei, a small cigarette shop in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, business has been booming since many people have come here to dispose of cigarettes they received as gifts during the Spring Festival.

Xiumei also takes in fine wine and gift cards.

"We buy some easy-to-sell gift cards, like those for supermarkets or department stores, at a price equal to 95 percent of the card value. But for some less popular ones, bookstore cards, for example, we offer 55 percent," the shopkeeper said, under condition of anonymity.

The Spring Festival and other major festivals bring good business, he said.

Meanwhile, those hoping to buy decent gifts at better prices also turn to these recycling stores.

Fine wine, tobacco, tea, brand-name watches and jewelry have traditionally been hot items to recycle, but, nowadays, more digital products, including high-end mobile phones and tablets, are popping up.

Many shops have also launched websites and online shops in hopes of improving communications with clients.

However, the booming gift-recycling business has triggered concerns over businesses operating without licenses, selling counterfeits and laundering money.

In China, special licenses are needed to trade tobacco products and alcohol, and many gift-recycling shops do not have such licenses.

Even properly licensed retailers can only buy tobacco products and alcohol from licensed wholesalers, not individuals, which means recycling businesses like Xiumei are operating illegally.

Wang Liang, the director of an economics institute under the Development Research Center of the Shanghai city government, told Xinhua that, to date, no laws or regulations have been enacted to define the gift-recycling business.

These kinds of businesses are not listed among the government business registration categories, and some are even registered as waste recycling businesses, he said.

Since their identities are vague, these shops can easily escape government supervision and are more likely to sell counterfeit products, he added.

These businesses are also suspected of aiding in money laundering activities.

Although people do get impractical gifts from family and friends during the holidays and need to get rid of them, a considerable portion of gifts, especially luxury goods, entering the recycling channel may come from businesspeople and officials looking to cash in on bribes.

Luo Meng, deputy head of the anti-graft department under the Haidian district procuratorate of Beijing, told Monday's People's Daily that the gift-recycling business could be involved in money laundering, especially laundering bribes, and may facilitate bribery if not well supervised.

Experts have called for clear definitions on what gifts can be recycled, as well as regulations on business operators.