What care costs in China, and how to pay
Posted prices, the three service tiers, international insurance and direct billing, deposits, and receipts — with verified numbers where we have them.
Chinese healthcare pricing confuses foreigners because it runs on a logic most countries abandoned: public hospitals post regulated prices, and self-pay is normal. Once you get the logic, costs become predictable — and often startlingly low.
The logic in three sentences
Public-hospital prices for regular care are government-regulated and posted — every consult, scan, and bed-day has a listed price, the same for a local self-payer and for you. The hospital's premium tracks (texu, international department) and private hospitals price at market rates. China's public insurance (医保) does not cover foreign visitors, so you will be a self-payer or use international insurance.
Real numbers (verified in our database)
These are not estimates; each carries a source and date in the database:
| Item | Price | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) | ¥17,918 / 100 mg | national self-pay list price |
| Nivolumab (Opdivo) | ¥9,260 / 100 mg | |
| Durvalumab (Imfinzi) | ¥6,066 / 120 mg · ¥18,088 / 500 mg | |
| CAR-T therapy (axi-cel / relma-cel) | ¥1.2M / ¥1.29M per infusion | one product carries an efficacy-linked refund program |
| Proton/carbon-ion therapy, full course | ¥278,000 flat | Shanghai SPHIC, all-inclusive course price |
| Allogeneic stem-cell transplant | ¥300k–800k total | multi-source range |
| Hip/knee implant (post-tender) | ~¥5,000–7,000 | after national volume-based procurement cut prices ~80% |
For context: several of these run 3–10× higher in US self-pay terms. Where we have made the comparison rigorous, it is in the database entry; where we have not, we say so there.
The consultation-fee ladder
| Track | Typical consult fee |
|---|---|
| Regular clinic (普通) | ~¥10–100 |
| VIP clinic (特需) | ~¥300–800 |
| International dept (国际部) | ¥1,000+ |
| Private international hospital | market pricing, several times the above |
See one hospital, three doors for what each track buys you.
International insurance: where your card works
- Direct billing — the hospital bills your insurer, you pay only your share — is standard at international private hospitals (United Family, Jiahui, etc.) and available at many public-hospital international departments. Major international insurers (Cigna, Bupa, Allianz, MSH, AXA and others) maintain direct-billing networks in China.
- Regular clinics: pay first, claim later. Keep every receipt (see below). Most international policies reimburse care at public sanjia hospitals without fuss, but check your policy's China terms before you travel.
- Travel insurance typically covers emergencies only, not planned treatment.
Paying, deposits, and paperwork
- Payment rails: WeChat Pay and Alipay both accept foreign cards since their 2023 upgrades for overseas visitors; UnionPay terminals are universal; cash still works. International departments usually take Visa/Mastercard directly.
- Outpatient care is pay-as-you-go: you pay before each test or treatment, at kiosks or on your phone.
- Admission requires a deposit (押金) — commonly tens of thousands of yuan for surgery, settled against the final bill.
- Paperwork to keep: the official invoice 发票 (fapiao), itemized bills, and copies of your medical record (病历) including discharge summary. These are what your insurer will ask for. Hospitals provide records on request — ask before you leave the country.
Three cost traps to avoid
- Assuming the international department price is "the price of China." It is the price of comfort. The regular clinic downstairs charges a fraction for the same machines.
- Flying in for one drug without checking channels. Some therapies (and prices) are channel-specific — mainland-approved vs Hainan Boao special-access vs Hong Kong/Macau. Our drug entries state the channel explicitly.
- Forgetting the fapiao. No fapiao, no reimbursement. Ask for it the same day; retroactive invoices are painful.
Sources & verification status
- Verified prices: per-entry sources and verification dates in the China Medical Index database (drug list prices from public listing data; SPHIC course price multi-source; implant prices from national procurement coverage).
- Pending verification: consult-fee ranges by city; per-hospital insurer direct-billing panels; deposit ranges; foreign-card status of WeChat/Alipay as of 2026. Marked inline; will be replaced with cited specifics.