Are More International Patients Visiting Hospitals in China? What the Data Actually Shows

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By MedBridgeNZEvidence last checked: 1 October 2026. Annual comparisons use 2024 and 2025 figures; several were published in 2026.

Published figures show rising foreign-passport visits to Shanghai's public hospitals and strong growth in medical-tourism activity in Boao Lecheng. They don't yet establish a national total, or a national growth rate, for people travelling to China specifically for care.

If you're considering care abroad, it's understandable to want clear answers before committing to a trip. You may be trying to understand an unfamiliar hospital system while also thinking about language, travel and care at home. For international patients in China, the local figures offer a starting point: they show recorded activity, while the hospital services behind them need a closer look.

International patient reviewing visit documents with a coordinator in a Shanghai hospital reception area. — Planning a hospital visit in China? MedBridgeNZ helps international patients coordinate hospital enquiries, translation and arrival arrangements, so there’s less to work out alone. Illustrative image.

What Shanghai's hospital figures actually show

A report on Shanghai's government website, citing the municipal health commission, records an increase in visits by foreign-passport patients to the city's public hospitals.[1]

Year	Foreign-passport hospital visits
2024	67,600
2025	73,200

That is an increase of approximately 8.3%.

These are visits, so someone attending several appointments may be counted more than once. The published series doesn't distinguish between foreign residents, ordinary visitors and people travelling specifically for treatment. Private hospitals are outside this particular count.

The increase is clear within that measure. Keeping the word visits attached to the number matters: “73,200 medical tourists” would describe a different population.

Lecheng's medical-tourism growth needs a different reading

Boao Lecheng is a medical-tourism pilot zone in Hainan. Its overall activity more than doubled between 2024 and 2025.[2,3]

Lecheng measure	2024	2025
Overall medical-tourism visits	413,700	865,300
Inbound medical tourists	Not available in this review	Nearly 10,000

The overall series grew by approximately 109.2%. It includes domestic activity and spans a broader range of services, such as health screening, rehabilitation and recuperative care.[2]

The inbound count comes from a separate Hainan government announcement, which reports nearly 10,000 medical tourists from 14 countries and regions in 2025.[4] That is the figure more directly relevant to travel from overseas.

A comparable 2024 inbound figure wasn't obtained in this review, so the overall growth rate can't be applied to the international segment. The two releases also don't explain their coverage and repeat counting in enough detail to calculate a precise inbound share.

Together, the figures document substantial expansion in Lecheng's overall activity and a separately reported inbound segment. For someone researching a visit, the next question is which institution and service within the pilot zone would handle their enquiry.

What is changing for international patients in China?

There are also documented efforts to make international hospital visits easier to organise.

Shanghai began a pilot involving 13 public hospitals in 2023. In January 2025, it published a policy addressing international-patient appointments, multilingual services, medical documents, coordination and payment arrangements.[5,6]

Lecheng established an international medical-tourism service centre in May 2026. Hainan's announcement describes foreign-language hotlines and coordination between institutions, alongside support for cross-border referrals.[4]

For a prospective patient, these developments give you specific channels to investigate. When you contact a hospital, you can ask whether it has a dedicated international-patient service and what that service handles.

It helps to establish the appointment route early. Ordinary outpatient care at a public hospital, its international department and a private hospital may have different booking, payment and communication arrangements. Ask which department would handle your request and whether any records need to be submitted before an appointment can be arranged.

If you have a hospital in mind, our hospital visit guides for international patients can help you check practical details such as passport registration, the correct campus and where to report on arrival.

How does this compare with other medical-travel destinations?

Some destinations recorded sharp growth in 2025; others reported fewer patients or arrivals. The direction differs across the countries reviewed.

Destination	2024	2025	Approximate change
South Korea	1,170,467	2,011,822	+71.9%
Malaysia	About 1.6 million	Preliminary 1.84 million	About +15%
India	644,387	507,244	−21.3%
Türkiye	1,506,442	1,398,580	−7.2%

What each row counts: South Korea—foreign patients [7,8]; Malaysia—healthcare travellers [9,10]; India—arrivals for medical purposes [11,12]; Türkiye—healthcare visitors, within a scope that can include citizens living abroad [13]. Each percentage compares the destination with its own previous year. Malaysia uses a rounded base and a preliminary 2025 count.

Those definitions matter. The table shows annual trends within each series; it doesn't provide a directly comparable count of unique medical tourists across countries.

Specialty mix adds another layer. In South Korea's 2025 specialty breakdown, dermatology accounted for 62.9% and plastic surgery for 11.2%. A person may appear in more than one specialty category.[8]

If you're researching cancer care or a complex operation, that mix is worth understanding. A large dermatology share doesn't establish a similar increase in demand for the care you're considering.

Thailand and Singapore are absent because this review didn't obtain current national annual figures suitable for this comparison. Hospital revenue and older visitor targets measure something else. China's local figures remain separate because they cover different populations from the national series above.

What matters for your own hospital visit

For your own plans, the useful question is how a hospital would handle the visit you're considering, from reviewing your records to confirming an appointment and explaining follow-up.

For a specialist consultation, you might need to establish which department receives overseas enquiries and what records it requires. For a proposed procedure, the receiving clinicians would need to address medical suitability and explain the care and follow-up involved.

Patient totals describe service use. Assessing treatment outcomes requires information about people with comparable conditions, risk factors and treatment histories, followed over comparable periods. The research behind this article doesn't provide that basis for a country-level treatment ranking.

For scheduling, ask what must happen before an appointment can be confirmed, including any review of records. A broad claim about quick access won't give you a date you can plan around.

For cost, request a quotation covering the care being discussed. Then consider the expenses around it: travel, accommodation, translation, a possible extended stay and follow-up.[14]

Discuss proposed treatment and travel plans with your treating doctor, including how care would continue after you return home. That gives your hospital enquiries a clearer purpose and keeps them connected to the care you already receive.

Before choosing a hospital, ask for these details

A written reply from the hospital gives you something to plan around. These four questions can help you see what has been confirmed and what still needs an answer.

Which department and appointment route would I use?Confirm whether the visit would be through ordinary outpatient care, an international department or a private service. Ask what documents are needed before booking and how the appointment will be confirmed.

What does the quotation cover?Ask about inclusions, exclusions and payment arrangements, along with any separate charges for documents, translation or coordination. Keep hospital fees and concierge fees identifiable.

How will I communicate and receive my records?Confirm the language arrangements for the appointment and which documents will be supplied in English. If imaging is involved, ask how you will receive the original image files as well as the written report. Our English medical reports and DICOM checklist sets out the questions to ask about file formats, delivery timing and access after you leave China.

What happens after the visit?Ask about follow-up instructions, the hospital's contact route and the records needed by the clinician continuing your care at home. CDC guidance also emphasises obtaining overseas medical records and planning follow-up.[14]

You don’t need to have chosen a hospital to make an initial enquiry. Tell MedBridgeNZ about the visit you’re considering, including what you hope to arrange and any preferred hospital or city.

MedBridgeNZ can coordinate hospital enquiries, record translation, appointments and travel arrangements, helping you keep track of the practical steps and the information still needed from the hospital. We provide concierge and logistics support; medical assessment and treatment decisions remain with clinicians.

A few questions about the figures

How many people travel to China specifically for medical treatment each year?

The sources reviewed don't establish a verified national total for this group. The local figures describe hospital use and medical-tourism activity, with different definitions and coverage.

Do foreign-patient figures include people who already live in China?

They can. Shanghai's foreign-passport visit series doesn't separate residents from visitors travelling for care. Other destinations use their own definitions, so the population behind each figure needs to be checked.

Does Lecheng's growth mean foreign medical tourism doubled?

The growth applies to overall medical-tourism activity. The separate inbound count has no comparable previous-year figure in this review, so the international segment's annual growth remains unconfirmed.

Can these statistics show which country is best for my treatment?

They describe service use and trends. A treatment decision needs information about the relevant hospital, clinicians, proposed care and follow-up, with medical suitability discussed by the treating teams.

Sources and how the figures were compared

This article draws on MedBridgeNZ's October 2026 review of public medical-travel data and the releases below. Comparisons use full-year 2024 and 2025 figures, with different statistical populations kept separate.

Calculation note: Annual change = (2025 value ÷ 2024 value − 1) × 100, rounded to one decimal place. Malaysia's percentage remains approximate because its base is rounded and its 2025 count is preliminary.