In the emerging industry of global “medical + tourism”, Beijing is becoming a highly competitive medical tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region by virtue of its high-end medical resources integrating “medicine, education, research and production”, profound cultural heritage of Chinese medicine and internationalized service support. The city not only has the world's cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment There are not only the world's cutting-edge diagnostic and treatment technologies, but also a series of the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and other world cultural heritages, providing tourists with a full-dimensional health journey of “treatment + recreation + cultural experience”.
Supporting facilities
The core competitiveness of medical tourism lies not only in medical technology, but also in the ecology of the whole cycle of services, including “before, during and after treatment”. Beijing's medical supporting facilities have formed a “three-dimensional network”, covering the entire scenario of transportation, accommodation, language, and health care.
1. Efficient and convenient transportation network: Beijing has one of the densest transportation hubs in the world, with Daxing International Airport and Capital International Airport intertwined with 12 high-speed rail lines and more than 20 subway lines, covering major cities in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei in 3 hours and reaching major economic circles in China in 4 hours. For international medical tourists, some hospitals have opened “special medical lines”, such as the international medical department of Union Hospital, which provides services such as transportation and flight information linkage.
2. Diversified accommodation options: from high-end hotels to medical-themed apartments to meet different needs. The Four Seasons Hotel and Crest Hotel in the Wangfujing and Financial Street areas provide personal butler services; some international hospitals (such as UFH and MCCH) offer “medical serviced apartments” equipped with customized meals by dietitians, rehabilitation and training areas, and 24-hour healthcare response; and hot springs resorts in the neighboring districts of Yanqing and Huairou provide “natural healing” services for post-surgical rehabilitation. The surrounding hot spring resorts in Yanqing and Huairou provide “natural healing” scenarios for post-operative rehabilitation.
3. Language services to eliminate barriers: Beijing's top medical institutions are generally equipped with bilingual medical teams, and some hospitals (e.g., Cancer Hospital and Guang'anmen Hospital) have set up “International Medical Departments,” which provide professional interpreters in English, Japanese, and Korean; third-party medical interpreters provide medical record translation and accompanying services to ensure zero error in doctor-patient communication. The “International Medical Department” provides professional interpreters in English, Japanese, Korean and other languages.
4. In-depth integration of cultural and tourism resources: the medical itinerary can be seamlessly connected to the “cultural journey” - after treatment, stroll through the Forbidden City to feel the history, climb the Great Wall to relieve stress, or experience the Chinese medicine tea ceremony and non-heritage handicrafts in the hutongs, realizing the “physical and mental”. to realize “physical and mental health”.
Characteristic Treatment
The core attraction of Beijing's medical tourism lies in the dual advantages of “technology + culture”. Beijing has gathered the world's top technologies in the fields of oncology, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, traditional Chinese medicine, and rehabilitation medicine, while integrating the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine to form differentiated competitiveness.
1. Difficult and serious diseases: precision medicine
Beijing is home to 40% of the country's tertiary hospitals, representing the national level in areas such as oncology, organ transplantation and neurosurgery. For example, the Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) has a “Multidisciplinary Diagnosis and Treatment (MDT)” model, which gathers experts in surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and imaging to formulate personalized plans for cancer patients; and the da Vinci surgical robot of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army (301) has an annual operation volume of more than 10,000, and has realized “millimeter-level” precision medicine for prostate cancer and heart surgeries. "The da Vinci surgical robot of the General Hospital of the People's Liberation Army (301 Hospital) has operated more than 10,000 cases per year, realizing millimeter-level precision in prostate cancer and heart surgeries; and the kidney transplantation team of the First Hospital of Peking University has a five-year survival rate that is among the highest in the world.
2. Traditional Chinese Medicine: Modern Renewal of Traditional Wisdom
As the core city of Chinese medicine culture, Beijing is unique in its “Chinese medicine + tourism” model. Third-rate Chinese medicine hospitals such as Guang'anmen Hospital and Dongzhimen Hospital provide acupuncture, moxibustion and Chinese medicine treatment services, which are highly effective for chronic diseases (e.g., diabetes, insomnia) and sub-health; some organizations have launched the “Chinese medicine culture experience tour”, in which tourists can visit Chinese medicine plantation bases (e.g., Haidian Bacchus Garden), participate in herbal medicine preparation, and follow the consultation of famous and old Chinese doctors. Some organizations have launched “Chinese medicine culture experience tours”, in which tourists can visit Chinese medicine plantation bases (such as Haidian Baicao Yuan), participate in herbal medicine concoctions, and follow famous doctors to experience the concept of “treating the disease before it gets sick”.
3. Rehabilitation and medical beauty:
Demand for post-operative rehabilitation, sports injury repair, and anti-aging has created a market for high-end rehabilitation medicine. Beijing United Family Rehabilitation Hospital (BJU) has introduced the German MTT rehabilitation system, equipped with intelligent rehabilitation robots; BJU Women's and Children's Hospital (MWCH) provides postpartum rehabilitation and child growth and development management; in the field of medical aesthetics, organizations such as Hwa-han and Yixing, relying on the technical backing of tertiary care hospitals, carry out minimally invasive cosmetic surgery, and skin management, and at the same time, strictly comply with the international standards of medical safety (e.g., JCI accreditation).
Recommended Hospitals
Beijing's high quality resources for medical tourism are highly concentrated, and the following organizations have become popular choices due to their technology, services and ability to meet international standards:
1. Flagship of Comprehensive Strength: Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMC) International Medical Department
As the TOP1 hospital in China, the International Department of Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) gathers top experts from various departments, specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases and complex cases; it provides English medical record management and overseas medical insurance docking services, and has provided medical services for a number of international dignitaries.
2. Oncology specialty: Cancer Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS)
It is one of the largest oncology hospitals in the world, with a proton therapy center (to be put into operation in 2023) and a State Key Laboratory of Molecular Oncology, and maintains international leadership in lung cancer, breast cancer and other fields; it has opened an “international outpatient clinic”, which supports multi-language diagnosis and treatment and direct mailing of overseas medicines.
3. Traditional Chinese Medicine Heritage: Guang'anmen Hospital of China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Chinese medicine “national team”, acupuncture and moxibustion, endocrinology (diabetes) for the national key disciplines; the hospital has an “international Chinese medicine center”, with more than 30 countries to carry out academic cooperation, providing “one person, one party” customized Chinese medicine The hospital has an International Chinese Medicine Center, which has academic cooperation with more than 30 countries and provides “one-person-one-party” customized Chinese medicine and acupuncture treatments.
4. High-end Private: Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU)
BJU is characterized by “internationalization + humanization” and has an outstanding reputation for its obstetrics, pediatrics, and general medicine services. It is equipped with international JCI-accredited operating rooms, has over 30% foreign doctors, and supports direct payment by commercial insurance, making it suitable for families with high demands for service experience.
Core Advantages
The competitiveness of Beijing's medical tourism is rooted in the triple barriers of “resources, technology and culture”:
1. The density of top resources is the highest in the country: Beijing has 8 national medical centers and 12 national regional medical centers, the number of practicing physicians per 1,000 people (7.6) far exceeds the national average (3.15), and the success rate of treating difficult and serious diseases is among the highest in the world.
2. “Two-way empowerment” of scientific research and clinics: universities such as Peking University School of Medicine and Peking Union Medical College are deeply connected with hospitals, and the results of new drug research and development and device innovation have been rapidly transformed; for example, the “brain pacemaker” technology of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, the ‘neuromodulation’ technology of Xuanwu Hospital, and the “neuromodulation” technology of Beijing Tiantan Hospital have been rapidly transformed into new drugs and new equipment. For example, the “brain pacemaker” technology of Beijing Tiantan Hospital and the “neuromodulation” therapy of Xuanwu Hospital have originated from the original innovations of the research teams in the hospitals.
3. Chinese medicine culture “world business card”: Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and other organizations have led the development of a number of international standards for Chinese medicine (such as the “International Clinical Practice Guidelines for Chinese Medicine”), and have promoted the entry of acupuncture, tuina and other therapies into the health insurance systems of more than 100 countries, attracting “Chinese medicine fans” from all over the world to come to Beijing for experience. This has attracted “Chinese medicine fans” from all over the world to come to Beijing for experience.
Policies
In order to promote the development of medical tourism, Beijing has introduced a series of policies in recent years to build a systematic framework of “facilitation, standardization and internationalization”:
1. More convenient customs clearance and payment: 72/240-hour visa-free transit for foreigners holding ordinary passports, allowing qualified medical institutions to access international medical insurance (e.g., United Healthcare and TK Insurance); some hospitals have piloted “cross-border settlement of medical insurance” to simplify the process of expense reimbursement. Some hospitals are piloting “cross-border settlement of medical insurance” to simplify the process of expense reimbursement.
2. More standardized industrial development: In 2022, the “Beijing International Medical Service Development Reform and Innovation Work Plan” will be released, explicitly supporting social capital to organize international hospitals and rehabilitation institutions, and encouraging public medical institutions to expand their international medical departments; and the “Medical Tourism Service Standards” will be issued simultaneously to standardize the quality of translation, accommodation, and recreation.
3. More open scientific research cooperation: support foreign-funded institutions to build joint laboratories with Beijing hospitals (e.g. the oncology research center between Merck Sharp & Dohme Hospital), and accelerate the introduction of innovative medicines and devices; promote the construction of “Chinese Medicine Overseas Centers”, which have set up Beijing Chinese medicine branches in 15 countries.
Conclusion: Beijing, making the journey of health more temperate
When top medical technology meets a thousand-year-old cultural lineage, medical tourism in Beijing has gone beyond the single function of “treating illnesses” and upgraded to a comprehensive experience of “physical and mental healing + cultural exploration”. Whether it's families seeking cancer treatment, travelers pursuing traditional Chinese medicine, or high-net-worth individuals seeking anti-aging and beauty treatments, all can find “customized” health solutions here. As the policy dividends continue to be released, Beijing is moving towards becoming the “Asia-Pacific's first choice for medical tourism” - where treatment is the starting point, health is the way back, and culture is the warmest footnote of the journey.