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Why Foreigners Come to China for Medical Treatment

Healthcare #Healthcare
Jan 21, 2026 · Updated Oct 19, 2026
Red-brick Harvard Building on the Huashan Hospital campus in Shanghai

Foreigners come to China for medical treatment in growing numbers, and it’s no longer just a niche story. Major Chinese hospitals recorded about 1.28 million international patient visits in 2025. That is up 73.6% on three years earlier, and visits from Europe and North America doubled over the same period (Sixth Tone, 2026). Social media videos make it look simple. It mostly is — but a few details decide whether the trip goes smoothly. Here is the honest version.

Why Foreigners Come to China for Medical Treatment

Three reasons come up again and again.

Price

Care in China is cheap by many countries’ standards. The table below gathers real, sourced figures — national averages first, then prices reported for individual foreign patients.

WhatCost in ChinaSource
Average outpatient visit, all hospitals (2024)361 yuan (about US$50)NHC, 2025
Average outpatient visit, tertiary hospitals (2024)387 yuanNHC, 2025
Average hospital stay, tertiary hospitals (2024)11,897 yuan (about US$1,650)NHC, 2025
X-ray after a football ligament injury, Huadong Hospital, Shanghai130 yuan (US$18.70)China Daily, 2026
Tests, diagnosis and treatment for long-running stomach pain, public hospitalAbout 2,800 yuan (US$400)Sixth Tone, 2026
Knee replacementAround 60,000 yuan (vs. about US$50,000 in the US)China Daily, 2026
Child’s liver transplant plus recovery, Renji Hospital, ShanghaiNearly 200,000 yuan (US$29,000)Sixth Tone, 2026
Proton therapy15–20% of the cost in Western countries, per a Ruijin Hospital directorChina Daily, 2026

Read the table with care, though. The national averages cover all patients, most of them with local insurance and none paying international-department rates. And the single cases are just that — one patient, one hospital, one bill. Your quote depends on your condition, the hospital and the service level you pick. So always ask for a written estimate first.

Speed

Big Chinese hospitals run at huge volume, so scans and tests are often done the same day. For someone facing a months-long wait at home, that alone can justify the flight.

Specific expertise

Some patients come for a particular treatment — certain cancer therapies, transplant surgery, or gene and cell therapies at research hospitals. Shanghai hospitals, for example, have treated foreign patients with CAR-T therapy and a gene-editing drug for thalassaemia (China Daily, 2026). These are specialist cases, though. They need careful checking with your own doctor first.

Where Foreigners Go for Medical Treatment in China

About 850 institutions in 57 mainland cities now offer international medical services (China Daily, 2026). Three places stand out.

  • Shanghai. A public-hospital medical tourism pilot started in September 2023 and now covers 22 institutions. In 2025 its public hospitals served 73,200 foreign patients (Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, 2026).
  • Beijing. 52 institutions have an international department, and 156 offer foreign-language service from start to finish (China News Service, 2025). One of the oldest belongs to Peking Union Medical College Hospital, which has served foreign patients since 1951.
  • Boao Lecheng, Hainan. A special medical zone approved in 2013. Its hospitals may use certain drugs and devices approved abroad but not yet on the mainland — more than 470 had been brought in by April 2025. The zone received 413,700 medical tourists in 2024 (Hainan Provincial People’s Government, 2025).

For help picking a hospital, see our guide to China’s good hospitals.

Traditional care runs alongside all of this: most large hospitals here also keep an acupuncture and moxibustion clinic. See our guide to acupuncture and moxibustion, the UNESCO-listed practice with a 2,000-year-old paper trail.

Do Foreign Patients Take Local Patients’ Places?

It’s a fair question, and people in China ask it too. The short answer: the system is built to limit that. International services in public hospitals are kept to under 10% of a hospital’s capacity (Beijing Municipal Health Commission, 2021; Sixth Tone, 2026). They also have their own clinics, beds and prices. So foreign patients mostly use a separate, paid track.

Visas for Medical Treatment in China

Entry has become easier. Many nationalities can now enter visa-free for short stays, and there is a 240-hour visa-free transit option for travellers heading on to a third country. Our guides to China visa-free entry and visa-free transit keep the country lists current.

That said, each scheme has its own rules on length of stay and permitted purposes. Treatment plus recovery can easily run longer than a visa-free stay. So for anything beyond a check-up, confirm with the Chinese embassy or visa centre before you book. Ask the hospital, too — an invitation letter from it may be needed for a regular visa. Follow the official route; don’t rely on “workarounds” from agents.

Planning Medical Treatment in China, Step by Step

  1. Talk to your own doctor first. Ask what treatment you need and what follow-up will look like at home.
  2. Contact the hospital directly. International departments usually take enquiries by email or phone. Send your records and ask for a treatment plan and cost estimate in writing.
  3. Bring everything. Reports, a medication list, and scans as DICOM files on a disc or USB drive.
  4. Sort out payment. Some international insurers bill hospitals directly; most home public insurance will not pay. Set up mobile payment as well — see how to pay in China.
  5. Leave buffer days. Recovery, final checks and paperwork take time. Don’t book the flight home for the day after surgery.
  6. Collect records before you leave. Ask for a discharge summary, ideally in English, plus receipts.

Risks Worth Weighing

  • Follow-up care. Complications can appear after you fly home. Make sure a doctor there is willing to take over.
  • Language. Outside international departments, much of the process runs in Chinese. Our explainer on what seeing Chinese doctors is like helps you prepare.
  • Middlemen. Agencies can help, but check who they are and what they charge. Booking with the hospital directly is often simpler.
  • Unproven treatments. If something sounds too good, ask for the evidence, and ask your home doctor.

Foreigners come to China for medical treatment because the numbers — price, speed, experience — often add up. Plan it like the medical decision it is, not like a holiday, and it usually goes well. And if something urgent happens mid-trip, our China emergency guide has the numbers to call.

References