Why more foreigners are seeking health care in China

Foreigners visiting China often gush over the country’s high-speed rail and glittering skylines. Its creaky medical system, though, gets less praise. So Amie, a British woman, caused a stir online last month with a glowing video review of a public hospital in Beijing. With persistent stomach pain, and facing a long wait to see a doctor in Britain, she went to China, where she had once lived. Tests, diagnosis and treatment were quick and cost some 2,800 yuan ($400). Even including the air fare, that was still less than she would have had to pay at a private hospital at home, she said. After Amie’s video went viral on Chinese social media, other foreigners chimed in with their own stories of cheap and efficient care in China.

A decade ago officials set a target for China to become an “internationally competitive” destination for medical tourism by 2030 (as South Korea has become: wealthy Chinese often visit that country for complex treatments or cosmetic surgery). Now China is drawing a growing number of foreign patients. Last year its hospitals received nearly 1.3m of them, up almost 74% from 2022, according to Chinese media. China’s medical-tourism market is expected to increase from around $1.2bn in 2025 to $3.4bn by 2035, according to Market Research Future, a consultancy.

Many of China’s medical facilities are still shoddy, but in recent years its best hospitals have gained top-notch doctors and equipment. For some elective procedures such as laser eye surgery, they are world-class. They are also usually cheaper than Western hospitals. Many have English-speaking staff. And since 2023 China has fast expanded its visa-free entry scheme (last month it was announced that British visitors would be included). This makes it easier to drop in for a check-up.

Most of the foreigners to be found in Chinese hospitals are still residents rather than medical tourists. But big cities like Shanghai and Beijing are starting to receive more patients from abroad. Growing numbers of Vietnamese are seeking treatment in hospitals in southern China. And Russians are popping over the border to hospitals in the north-east.

State media see this as an encouraging sign of the country’s growing appeal to patients overseas. “Compared with some Western countries, China’s medical system provides more efficient and affordable care,” a researcher told China Daily, a state newspaper. Such messages chime with the current propaganda campaign to paint America as a precarious place, where one bad illness can ruin someone financially.

But some Chinese worry about possible new strains on China’s medical system, which is largely publicly funded. Chinese doctors are hugely overworked. Queues often snake around hospitals. “Foreigners coming here to enjoy the benefits of Chinese taxpayers isn’t fair,” said one commenter on Amie’s video. “Will foreigners seize our medical resources?” asked an article on WeChat, a social-media app. Such worries appear overblown—public hospitals are only allowed to use 10% of capacity for international departments. But it is a rare case where China’s nationalists dislike one of their country’s success stories. ■