Guides to medical care in China

Sourced, dated answers about records, money, entry and institutions, written for people deciding whether to travel here for care. We explain how the system works. We do not tell you which treatment to have.

28 entries·Every claim carries its source·Last checked 14 September 2026

A laboratory autosampler loaded with sample vials

Where to start

If you read nothing else, read these in this order.

Four steps, roughly the sequence in which the questions arrive. You can stop at any point and nothing is owed.

Step 1Get your records in orderEverything downstream depends on this. Wrong units or a missing unfavourable finding will cost you more than any fee.Step 2Work out what it costsHow a bill is built, and whether your insurer will pay any of it. Settle this before you book anything.Step 3Sort out entryWhich visa, who issues the invitation, how long it takes, or whether you can come visa-free at all.Step 4Decide where to goHow to read a hospital and a doctor, and the questions to put to them. This decision stays yours.

Health screeningWhat a check-up package contains, what it omits, and what an English report will and will not cover.Care areas7 min read Oncology pathwaysWhich documents the review turns on, why staging needs its edition, and why we publish no survival figures.Care areas8 min read Cardiovascular careWhy travel is part of the clinical question here, and why follow-up must be arranged before you go.Care areas7 min read Orthopaedics and jointsThe implant question, and why recovery rather than the operation decides your stay.Care areas7 min read Digestive and endoscopic treatmentESD, EMR, POEM decoded, and the pathology report that arrives after you fly home.Care areas6 min read Eye treatmentThe lens is a priced choice. Corneal grafts depend on tissue nobody can promise.Care areas7 min read Dental implantsStaged over months, usually two trips. What a real quote contains.Care areas6 min read TCM and rehabilitationWhat a course involves week by week, described as a process with no claim about outcome.Care areas7 min read How to prepare your medical recordsWhich documents matter, how to export imaging as DICOM rather than a photograph, the standard a translation has to meet, and what you should not send by email.Records12 min read How to request records from your hospitalWhat you are entitled to ask for, who to ask, what a reasonable fee looks like, and what to do when the request stalls.Records3 min read What a Chinese hospital bill is made ofRegistration, examinations, drugs, bed and nursing: how the line items work, the deposit system, and which documents an insurer will want.Costs & insurance11 min read Consumables and implants: ask before surgeryStents, joints, mesh, staplers. The single question that most changes a surgical bill, and when to ask it.Costs & insurance3 min read Paying for things in ChinaMobile payment, foreign cards, cash, and how a hospital deposit is actually settled. The practical part nobody explains before you land.Before you come3 min read Can you use international health insurance in China?Direct settlement versus reimbursement, what a guarantee of payment is, the exclusion that catches most people, and ten questions to send your insurer.Costs & insurance11 min read The S2 visaThe invitation letter comes from the hospital, not from an agency. What you need, the order it has to happen in, and a realistic timeline.Entry & visas11 min read Can you enter visa-free instead?Four questions to settle before relying on a visa-free or transit arrangement, and why we will not give you a confident yes or no.Entry & visas3 min read Bringing someone with youAccompanying relatives: what proof of relationship is asked for, and how it changes the application.Entry & visas2 min read Hainan Lecheng: what the pilot zone allowsWhat licensed access means in practice, which medicines it covers, what the rules say about taking medication out, and an explicit list of what we could not verify.Medicines11 min read Taking medicine out of the zoneDosage forms, quantity, the filing step. Information only, we never handle medicines, in any form.Medicines3 min read What to ask about a procedureThe questions worth putting to any institution before you agree to anything, and why we publish questions rather than recommendations.Treatment8 min read How to read a Chinese hospitalGrades and classes, national centres, what a departmental reputation is based on, public versus private, and how to verify a claim yourself.Hospitals & doctors8 min read How to read a doctor's credentialsProfessional ranks, academic titles, what a supervisor title does and does not mean, and why a famous name may not be the one operating.Hospitals & doctors8 min read The whole journey, step by stepFrom first enquiry to going home: who does what at each stage, and the three decisions that are never ours to make.Before you come5 min read Beyond the hospitalRecuperation, travel time, delegation and study visits: what we help with, what goes to licensed providers, and what we keep separate.Beyond care5 min read Recuperation after treatmentClinical rehabilitation and recovery time are two different things sold under one word. What a course involves, where people stay, and what we will not claim about rest.Beyond care6 min read Time to travel while you are hereTourism, and nothing medical about it. The question to put to your physician first, and why travel is never bundled into a price with treatment.Beyond care5 min read Corporate and delegation visitsManufacturing, EVs, logistics, AI, hospital operations. How a programme comes together, and why nobody can sell you access to a host that has not agreed.Beyond care7 min read Academic and clinical study visitsObserverships and study programmes: who the real gatekeeper is, what approval depends on, and why patient consent outranks any commercial arrangement.Beyond care6 min read

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