Wang Chao

China Daily

Publication Date : 21-07-2014

Medical tourism, once the exclusive preserve of the rich, is growing and changing as hospitals and clinics offer farflung patients advantages hard to come by in China whether it be high-tech therapy, less-expensive care or alternative treatments.

In China, home to a growing number of travelling patients, more foreign medical tourists are seeking care either to save money or for such treatments as traditional Chinese medicine.

"In European countries such as Turkey and Cyprus, more than half of people are not covered by public insurance, so Chinese medical institutions have big opportunities," says Li Jingwen, general manager in Beijing for McBridge, a medical business consultant with offices in China and Germany.

At the same time, outbound tourists from China are starting to go for hospitals and clinics in many developed countries.

They are showing up not just with shopping bags and cameras, but also in increasing numbers with their medical records in countries like South Korea, Singapore, Europe and the United States.

They are filling hospital beds and surgical suites for treatments as diverse as plastic surgery, extensive checkups and cancer treatment.

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