How China Works

Hospitals in China for Foreigners: How the Chinese Hospital System Works

China Medical Index · Reviewed and last checked 2026-09-11

China has more than 38,000 hospitals, but they are not interchangeable. A large public tertiary hospital in Beijing or Shanghai, a county hospital, a specialist cancer center, and an international private hospital may all be called a “hospital” while serving very different patient populations and clinical roles.¹

For an international patient, the most useful way to understand the Chinese hospital system is to separate five questions:

Is the hospital public or private?
What formal hospital level does it hold?
How strong is the exact specialty you need?
Does it have a service route that works for international patients?
Can it provide the records, language support, payment options, and follow-up you need?

A famous hospital name is useful context. It is not enough by itself.

How many hospitals are there in China?

At the end of 2024, China had 38,710 hospitals. Of these, 11,754 were public and 26,956 were private.¹

Private hospitals therefore represented roughly 70% of hospitals by number. But patient activity was concentrated overwhelmingly in the public sector: public hospitals delivered 83.7% of hospital outpatient and emergency visits and 82.3% of hospital admissions in 2024.¹

China has more private hospitals by count, but public hospitals still carry most hospital-based clinical care.

For complex disease, major surgery, rare disease, advanced oncology, difficult diagnosis, and many high-volume specialist services, leading public hospitals remain central to the system.

Public hospitals in China

Public hospitals range from small local facilities to national referral centers. Major public hospitals often combine high patient volume, large specialist departments, advanced diagnostics, teaching and research, referral of difficult cases, and substantial critical-care capacity.

A public hospital may also have several outpatient service tracks, including ordinary outpatient care, special/VIP clinics, and an international medical department. These structures are not universal.

Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), for example, currently lists ordinary outpatient clinics, special expert clinics, and international medical outpatient clinics as separate appointment categories.² It is a useful example of the multi-track model, but it should not be treated as a nationwide rule.

Private hospitals in China

Private hospitals include international hospitals, premium general hospitals, specialist hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, maternity hospitals, and specialty chains.

“Private” is therefore not a quality grade.

For an international patient, private and international hospitals can offer:

English-speaking coordination;
easier booking;
longer appointments;
foreign-card payment;
international insurance direct billing;
bilingual documentation;
a more familiar service environment.

Those service advantages do not prove that the institution has stronger disease-specific expertise than a major public referral center.

Hospital grades: Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3

China uses a tiered hospital classification system, but not every hospital has a formal grade.

At the end of 2024:¹

Hospital category	Number
Level 3 hospitals	4,111
— including Level 3 Grade A (3A)	1,876
Level 2 hospitals	12,294
Level 1 hospitals	13,287
Ungraded hospitals	9,018

It is therefore inaccurate to say that every Chinese hospital has an official tier.

What does Level 3 mean?

The 2025 Standards for Tertiary Hospital Review state that tertiary hospitals should focus especially on emergency and critical illness, difficult and complex disease, specialty services, technical innovation, training, and support for lower-level institutions.³

For an international patient traveling for complex treatment, a tertiary hospital is often a logical starting point.

But tertiary status is a screening criterion, not a complete quality judgment.

Two Level 3A hospitals may have very different expertise.

What does “3A hospital” or 三甲 mean?

A “3A hospital” usually refers to 三级甲等医院 (sanji jiǎděng yiyuan), commonly shortened to 三甲医院 (sanjia hospital).

It is the highest grade within the conventional tertiary hospital grading system.

However, the 3A label does not mean:

every specialty is nationally leading;
every doctor is a senior specialist;
waiting times are short;
English support is available;
international insurance is accepted;
the hospital is the best choice for your specific disease.

China had 1,876 Level 3 Grade A hospitals in 2024.¹ That is far too many institutions for “3A” alone to function as a meaningful national shortlist.

University-affiliated hospitals

Many leading hospitals are affiliated with medical universities, and their Chinese names may contain 附属医院, meaning “affiliated hospital.”

University affiliation can indicate a teaching and research role. It is not an official quality grade.

CMI should therefore record university affiliation separately from hospital grade, specialty strength, national-center designation, rankings, and international-service capability.

General hospitals versus specialist hospitals

Do not assume the largest general hospital is always the best place to go.

China has major specialist institutions in cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pediatrics and other fields.

The question:

“What is the best hospital in China?”

is usually less useful than:

“Which hospitals have the strongest department for my diagnosis and the treatment I may need?”

“Famous hospital” does not equal “right hospital”

For a patient, separate four signals:

1. Formal hospital grade

Useful for understanding broad institutional capability.

2. Specialty reputation

Useful for identifying recognized departments and referral centers.

3. Case complexity and activity

Useful for understanding whether difficult cases are routinely treated.

4. Practical access

Useful for deciding whether an international patient can actually use the service.

A hospital can be excellent clinically and still be difficult for a foreign visitor to navigate.

How foreign patients should choose a hospital in China

Step 1: Start with the condition, not the city

Identify the specialty and, where possible, the disease or procedure.

Examples:

lung cancer → thoracic oncology / medical oncology / thoracic surgery;
brain tumor → neurosurgery + neuro-oncology;
complex arrhythmia → electrophysiology rather than generic cardiology;
liver transplant → transplant center rather than general hepatology.

Step 2: Identify credible specialist centers

Use several signals:

formal hospital level;
specialty rankings;
national clinical-center designations;
official department information;
physician expertise;
case volume where published;
procedure-specific capability.

Step 3: Check the actual route available to foreigners

Ask:

Can I book with a passport?
Does the department accept self-pay international patients?
Is there an international medical service?
Is English coordination available?
Can I use the ordinary outpatient route?
Does the hospital accept my insurer?
Can I obtain English documentation?
Can I export DICOM imaging and complete records?

Step 4: Verify the doctor

A senior professional title is useful but does not identify the best doctor for every case.

Related: Doctor Titles in China

Step 5: Verify the care pathway

For complex disease, ask what happens after the first consultation: further tests, pathology review, surgery, admission, multidisciplinary review and follow-up.

The best institution is the one that can deliver the right clinical pathway—not simply the most famous name.

Red flags

Be cautious if you see:

guaranteed cure or guaranteed outcomes;
unverifiable doctor credentials;
“China's No. 1” claims without a defined ranking;
pressure for large pre-clinical-review payments;
opaque pricing;
inability to identify the treating hospital or doctor;
claims that “all 3A hospitals are the same”;
claims that an English website guarantees English clinical care.

CMI decision checklist

Question	Why it matters
Public or private?	Predicts service model, access and payment structure.
Formal hospital grade?	Gives broad institutional context.
Strong specialty for my disease?	Usually more important than overall fame.
Exact doctor/team identified?	Prevents a poor clinical match.
Passport registration possible?	Avoids access problems.
Ordinary, VIP or international route?	Changes service, language, insurance and cost.
English records available?	Important for continuity of care.
DICOM/pathology/records portable?	Essential if care continues elsewhere.
Follow-up pathway clear?	Determines whether the visit can lead to treatment.

Bottom line

The Chinese hospital system is large, stratified and highly specialized.

Do not choose a hospital only because it is public, private, 3A, university-affiliated, famous or highly ranked. Choose the institution and department that fit your disease, then verify that its patient-access route works for you.

Related CMI guides

National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, 2024年我国卫生健康事业发展统计公报 [2024 Statistical Bulletin on China's Health Development], December 2025, https://www.nhc.gov.cn/guihuaxxs/c100133/202512/f1c3a3c617484a27a1a26a468afbaeee/files/2024%E5%B9%B4%E6%88%91%E5%9B%BD%E5%8D%AB%E7%94%9F%E5%81%A5%E5%BA%B7%E4%BA%8B%E4%B8%9A%E5%8F%91%E5%B1%95%E7%BB%9F%E8%AE%A1%E5%85%AC%E6%8A%A5-20251201161542231.pdf. ↩↩↩↩↩
Peking Union Medical College Hospital, “门诊出诊表 [Outpatient Schedule],” accessed September 11, 2026, https://www.pumch.cn/visitinfo.html. ↩
National Health Commission, “国家卫生健康委关于印发《三级医院评审标准（2025年版）》的通知,” June 10, 2025, https://www.nhc.gov.cn/yzygj/c100068/202506/25229edc80d34694b7debf54ddef9f9f.shtml. ↩