Recently, major hospitals in China’s first-tier cities have started seeing an increasing number of foreign patients from around the world.
After the visa-free policy was expanded, more and more foreigners have been flocking to China for medical treatment.
The reasons behind this trend are not only the country’s exceptional healthcare efficiency but also the boost from its visa-free entry policies.
By July 30, 2025, China had implemented unilateral or mutual visa exemptions for citizens of 75 countries, and the number of countries with transit visa exemptions had expanded to 55.
According to official data, by December 16, 2025, the number of foreign arrivals at all ports of entry had surpassed 40 million, a year-on-year increase of 27.2%.
As inbound tourism continues to recover rapidly, some foreign consumers’ demand has shifted from “touring China” to “seeking medical care.”
With the growing interest in foreigners coming to China for healthcare, some in the domestic market have realized that “bringing foreigners to China for medical treatment” could become a new profitable trend in the inbound tourism sector.
This group includes English-speaking medical escorts providing translation services, entrepreneurs in the “medical tourism” industry who facilitate foreign patients coming to China, as well as professionals with clinical medical backgrounds.
When a foreign tourist visits China for travel, stays at hotels, buys duty-free goods, or comes for health checkups, medical treatment, and rehabilitation, these activities do not require subsidies or take up land quotas yet they can directly drive employment, service revenue, and local tax income.
So, if you ask whether “bringing foreigners to China for medical treatment” will be the most profitable sector in 2026, we may not have a definitive answer right now, but it is undoubtedly poised to become an increasingly important piece of the puzzle in China’s inbound consumption ecosystem.
