Comparison of medical tourism between Malaysia and China: China's “one-stop” advantage in hospital scale and price analysis
As an important branch of the global health industry, medical tourism has been growing rapidly in recent years due to the compound demand for “cost-effective medical treatment + leisure tourism”. With the popularity of English, internationalized medical system and service reputation, Malaysia has long been ranked among the top ten medical tourism destinations in the world; while China, relying on the huge medical resources, fast-developing medical technology and policy support, is becoming an emerging competitor with the “one-stop” advantage of “hospital scale + price”. China is becoming an emerging competitor with the “one-stop” advantage of “hospital scale + price”. The following is a comparison of the core dimensions of medical tourism between the two countries, and focus on analyzing the differentiated competitiveness of China.
the core advantages of Malaysia's medical tourism
The rise of Malaysia's medical tourism began in the 1990s, and its core competitiveness can be summarized as “specialization, internationalization, and high cost-effective”:
1. Global Leadership in Specialties
Malaysia has mature technology in plastic surgery, dentistry, cancer treatment (proton therapy), in vitro fertilization (IVF), cardiovascular disease, etc., and the cost is significantly lower than that in Europe and the United States. For example:
- Plastic surgery (e.g. breast augmentation, liposuction) costs about 1/3-1/2 of the United States; and
- Dental implants cost about RM1,500-3,000 (about RMB 2,300-4,600) per tooth, which is only 1/2 of the cost in Singapore; and
- The cost of proton therapy is about RM300,000 (about RMB 460,000), which is lower than that of the United States (about RMB 800,000-1,000,000).
2. Internationalized services and policy support
- Language barrier-free: English is one of the official languages, and healthcare professionals generally have English communication skills, attracting patients from Europe, America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia; and
- Convenient Visa: Medical Tourism Visa (MM2H) will be introduced from 2019, allowing patients to be accompanied by their family members and extend their stay (up to 1 year).
- International accreditation: over 30 hospitals have been accredited by JCI (Joint Commission on International Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations), meeting global medical quality standards.
3. Deep Integration of Medical Care + Tourism
Malaysia combines medical treatment with tropical tourism resources, introducing packages such as “treatment + island vacation” and “rehabilitation + cultural experience”, covering tourist cities such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Langkawi, to enhance patients' treatment experience.
China's “one-stop” advantage in medical tourism: the downward spiral of scale and prices
Although China's medical tourism started late (the former National Tourism Administration and the Health Commission jointly promoted it in 2013), it has formed a unique competitiveness with its “one-stop” model based on the scale of large hospitals, the whole industry chain, and policy dividends.
1. Hospital scale: the world's largest medical resource network
China has the world's largest medical infrastructure, which provides the underlying support for the “one-stop” service:
- Scale of single hospitals: China has more than 1,500 tertiary hospitals (2023 data), and some “super hospitals” have more than 10,000 beds (e.g., the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University has 12,000 beds), and annual outpatient volume of more than 10 million (e.g., the annual outpatient volume of Huaxi Hospital is about 6 million), far exceeding that of Malaysia's top hospitals (e.g., the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University). Far more than the head of Malaysia's hospitals (such as KPJ Medical Group's largest hospital beds of about 1,200).
- Completeness of departments: large general hospitals generally cover more than 100 clinical departments and have mature multidisciplinary collaboration (MDT) capabilities for difficult and serious cases, so patients do not need to be referred across hospitals.
- Wide regional coverage: tertiary hospitals have been sunk to prefecture-level cities, and county-level hospitals can also provide basic medical care, so patients can enjoy high-quality services nearby (e.g., Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Advance Zone in Hainan has introduced 25 international medical institutions, covering areas such as oncology, rare diseases, etc.).
2. Price Advantage: Lower Costs for the Same Quality
The “price-performance ratio” of China's medical services is significantly better than Malaysia's in most areas, especially in complex surgeries, treatment of chronic diseases, and high-end medical checkups:
Heart bypass surgery:
Cost in Malaysia (RMB) 150,000-200,000
Cost in China: 80,000-120,000 RMB
Comparison of price/performance ratio
40%-50% lower cost, comparable technical maturity
IVF (single cycle):
Malaysia
80,000-120,000
China
30-50K
Cost Comparison
More than 50% lower cost, similar success rate (40%-50%)
Tumor Proton Therapy :
Malaysia Cost (CNY)
450,000-600,000
Cost in China (RMB)
250,000-400,000 (Lucky City Advance Zone)
Comparison of cost and performance
30%-40% lower cost, higher accessibility in China
High-end full body checkup :
Cost in Malaysia (CNY)
20-30K
Cost in China (RMB)
0.8-15k
Comparison of price/performance ratio
Cost 50% lower, equipment (e.g. PET-MR) synchronized with international standards.
Note: The cost in China includes hospitalization, checkups, medicines and other processes, while Malaysia includes basic medical care but requires additional expenses for travel and accommodation (about RMB 500-1500/day).
3. “One-stop” Service: Closed-loop Integration of Medical Care + Tourism + Life
The “one-stop” advantage of China's medical tourism is not only reflected in the medical end, but also extended to tourism and life services through industry chain synergy:
- Integration of medical treatment and tourism: Boao Lecheng in Hainan, Pudong New Area in Shanghai and other policy pilot zones have launched “treatment + duty-free shopping + hot springs recuperation” packages; Yunnan, Guangxi and other places have combined ethnic medicine (such as Dai medicine, Zhuang medicine) to develop special physical therapy tourism.
- All-process support: large hospitals generally set up international medical department, provide visa assistance, translation, accommodation booking, pick-up and drop-off services; part of the hospitals and high-end hotels, travel agencies, customized “7 days of treatment + 3 days of tourism” combination package;
- Payment facilitation: support for medical insurance (some items), commercial insurance (e.g. high-end medical insurance), mobile payment (WeChat/Alipay), reducing barriers to cross-border settlement for patients.
Summary: Differentiated Competitiveness of Medical Tourism in China
The core attraction of Malaysia's medical tourism lies in the internationalization of specialties and the refinement of service experience, but its shortcomings lie in the limited scale of hospitals, the dispersal of cross-regional medical resources, and the fact that the linkage of “healthcare+tourism” still relies on external tourism resources.
In contrast, China's “one-stop” advantage is reflected in the following:
- Barrier of scale: the world's largest medical resource network supports the whole process of service, solving the pain point of “cross-hospital referral” and “cross-location medical care”; and
- Price advantage: 30%-50% lower cost under the same medical quality, and higher overall cost-effectiveness with the superimposed travel costs (e.g., accommodation, transportation); and
- Policy and industry chain synergy: policy pilots (e.g., LeCheng Pilot Zone), local medical technology breakthroughs (e.g., domestically produced proton equipment) and the entire industry chain supporting (drugs, devices, travel services) to form a closed loop, reducing the cost of decision-making for patients.
In the future, as China's medical technology (e.g. precision medicine, AI-assisted diagnosis) and international accreditation (JCI hospitals are growing) further improve, the “one-stop” model of “scale + price + service” is expected to attract more patients from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and the region. The “one-stop” model of “scale+price+service” is expected to attract more medical tourists from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and countries along the “Belt and Road” and become a core competitor in the global medical tourism market.