China’s bid for a slice of the medical tourism market

Six years ago, after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, South African resident Oscar Chalupsky sought cancer treatment in several places such as South Africa, Portugal and Germany. Last December, he travelled to China for cancer treatment for the first time.

Chalupsky, now 63, was once a world champion kayaker before switching careers to manufacture surf skis and kayaks. Because of his work, he was already visiting China regularly for the past two decades.

Higher expertise, lower cost

Chalupsky told Lianhe Zaobao (LHZB) that he chose to seek treatment at Ruijin Hospital, a top-tier hospital affiliated with the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, based on its strong reputation in haematology and cancer care.

In his view, China’s facilities are modern and the level of expertise is high, while treatment is more affordable compared with many Western countries. He shared, “There were some language barriers, but I found that the doctors and staff made a strong effort to communicate clearly with international patients.”

Chalupsky is not the only foreign patient to travel thousands of miles to China for treatment. In late November last year, British influencer Amie flew specially to Beijing for treatment of chronic stomach issues.

Amie, who previously lived in China, uploaded videos to TikTok where she lauded the efficiency of Chinese medical services. She said that the entire process — from consultation and gastroscopy to the removal of polyps — took less than two weeks and cost only 2,800 RMB (US$412). By comparison, a single endoscopy at a private clinic in Britain would cost at least 3,000 pounds (US$4,046).

As more foreign bloggers like Amie share their experiences of receiving medical treatment in China on social media, the topic of foreigners flocking to China for treatment has drawn attention and created opportunities for the development of China’s medical tourism industry.

In fact, the Chinese government has been laying the groundwork for medical tourism for many years. In 2013, Hainan province established the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone. In recent years, first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen have also continued expanding their international medical tourism offerings, as public and private hospitals in China developed their international medical departments aimed at meeting domestic demand for high-end healthcare services while also attracting foreign patients to China.

Official data shows that China recorded more than 150 million inbound tourist visits last year, up more than 17% year-on-year. Although there is no breakdown for medical tourism specifically, Chinese media cited the National Health Commission’s 2025 report on foreign-related medical services as showing that key foreign-facing hospitals in China received 1.28 million international patient visits last year, an increase of 73.6% compared with three years earlier.

Healthcare industry professionals believe that China’s huge population base has enabled leading hospitals’ surgeons to accumulate extensive surgical experience, providing strong support for the development of medical tourism.

Phua Tien Beng, managing director of Raffles Medical Group (Greater China), said, “Their surgical volumes are enormous. The more operations you perform and the more situations you encounter, the richer your clinical experience becomes.”

Some foreign patients are attracted by China’s innovative treatments, such as chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy. CAR-T therapy uses genetic engineering to modify a patient’s own T-cells so that they can precisely identify and eliminate cancer cells. Pan noted that CAR-T therapies in China are approved relatively quickly, and because Chinese companies are involved in research and development, treatment costs are comparatively lower.

Intense competition

However, as a relatively late entrant into the medical tourism sector, China also faces fierce competition from other Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia, and still accounts for only a small share of the global medical tourism market.

Nevertheless, Phua believes China’s medical tourism industry has strong potential and could rival Thailand and Malaysia. Since China offers visa-free policies to many countries, foreign patients can enter conveniently for relatively simple treatments such as health screenings, dental procedures and traditional Chinese medicine therapies.

He cited Beijing Raffles Hospital as an example. Last year, around 150 foreign patients, mainly from neighbouring countries such as Russia and Kazakhstan, travelled to the hospital for treatment or health screenings.

Over 9,300 overseas patients travelled to the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone for medical tourism last year. The zone currently hosts 46 medical institutions, including Hainan Mellsser Hospital, which specialises in high-end wellness and recuperation services.

Lu Hongbiao, deputy director of Mellsser’s treatment department, told LHZB that the hospital has a service team of over 400 people and can provide customised services based on patients’ religious beliefs and lifestyle. However, he admitted that the number of foreign patients received remains relatively small. Around 50 Middle Eastern clients came in the second half of last year, choosing treatment in China because of the lack of medical resources in their home countries.

Industry insiders believe that if China hopes to secure a larger share of the medical tourism market, it must first build reputation and trust. The groups most likely to travel to China for treatment are people from countries whose medical standards are relatively lower than China’s, as well as lower- and middle-income patients from developed countries.

Cai Qiang, founder of cross-border healthcare consultancy Saint Lucia Consulting, said that during promotional trips to Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia in recent years, he found that local patients generally knew little about China’s medical standards, meaning marketing efforts still need strengthening. “Healthcare relies on reputation and on patients’ first-hand experiences,” he said.

Daniel Lei, co-founder of another cross-border healthcare consultancy, Medora Health Limited, revealed that his company received more than 100 foreign patients last year, mainly from Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, with a small number from Western countries such as the US, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland.

Lei observed that although there are many enquiries from foreign patients, conversion rates remain low. When foreign patients liaise with hospitals, the hospitals are required to provide detailed quotations and treatment plans. “This takes up considerable medical resources, because doctors’ time is limited as well,” he said.

Squeeze on medical resources?

As more Chinese hospitals establish international medical departments and court foreign patients, concerns have emerged in public discourse over whether there would be a squeeze on medical resources.

Liu Chang, CEO and founder of international consultancy ASK Health Asia, argued that such concerns are exaggerated. He said in an interview that the purpose of public hospitals establishing international medical departments is not only to serve international patients, but more importantly to cater to middle- and high-income local residents as well as expatriates working in China, thereby generating additional revenue for hospitals.

China currently caps special-needs services provided by public hospitals — including international medical departments — at 10% of total medical provision, so as to prevent ordinary patients from being crowded out of access to medical resources.

Lei also pointed out that Chinese patients are concentrated mainly in leading top-tier public hospitals, creating the impression that consultations and waiting times are long. However, many hospitals in third- and fourth-tier cities are in fact struggling with a shortage of patients. He said, “Everyone believes that good medical resources are concentrated in public hospitals, so private hospitals are actually lacking patients as well.”

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “外国患者千里赴华求医 中国抢占医疗旅游市场大饼”.

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