China's hospital system is opening its doors to international patients
The numbers are already large
In 2025 China recorded about 1.28 million international patient visits — up 73.6% over three years, according to state media. This is no longer an experiment: more than three hundred public hospitals across the country operate international medical services, and the oldest of them, at Peking Union Medical College Hospital, has been receiving foreign patients since 1951.
Government pilots, by design
Guangdong province has designated 25 hospitals as international medical service pilots — all but two of them public — while Shanghai's 13 pilot hospitals handled over 290,000 international outpatient and emergency visits in just half a year. Notably, the Guangdong rules require pilot hospitals to fully protect regular outpatient capacity for local patients: the system is expanding for foreigners without displacing anyone, and without inventing special foreigner prices in regular departments.
A national zone for therapies not yet available elsewhere
On Hainan island, the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone is China's designated gateway for advanced treatments: it may legally use hundreds of drugs and medical devices approved abroad but not yet licensed in the rest of China. The zone received 865,000 visitors in 2025 — more than double the year before. For patients whose options at home have run out, this is the corridor built specifically for them.
What this means for you
A system this large, growing this fast, with this much explicit policy support, is a system you can plan around. The practical work — choosing the right department, understanding real costs, booking, language — is exactly what this directory and our services exist for.
Источник: Global Times: international patients in China · Xinhua: foreign patients coming to China · Hainan government: Boao Lecheng pilot zone · PUMCH International Medical Services (since 1951)