We focus on the Gulf first — where the visas, the insurance and the habits all line up — then Egypt and Turkey, and further afield from there.
Saudi, UAE and Qatar guests already travel for care. What they get in Shanghai: no visa paperwork, fast medical visas when treatment runs longer, and hospitals that bill their insurers directly.
High budgets and high expectations. Halal food, female doctors and family accompaniment are not optional — we arrange all three before they fly. The national Treatment Abroad program approves China case by case, so today's guests mostly pay themselves or through commercial insurance. We file the paperwork either way.
Our easiest market: the UAE has broad international private cover, and overseas elective care is common, and Chinese hospitals are far better known in Dubai than in Riyadh. Corporate wellness is the natural entry — a two-person check-up fits neatly into an executive benefits plan.
Qataris are used to flying for care — Hamad's referral routes mostly run to Europe and the US. Self-pay guests from private clinics in Doha are our entry point, taking the same screening package at a fraction of German prices.
A few pieces of policy make medical travel here genuinely simple. We restate them on every confirmed quotation.
Saudi, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain — short-stay entry without a visa. Covers T1–T4 completely, no paperwork at all.
Partner hospitals (incl. Jiahui, Huashan) are among 28 designated sponsors — fast-track issue, multi-entry, up to 180 days, family companions covered.
Some partner hospitals bill selected insurers directly; eligibility is subject to your policy and hospital confirmation.
Shanghai's international medical tourism pilot: licensed foreign doctors, cross-border insurance settlement reform, international departments built for foreign guests.
Halal meals at hospital and hotel, prayer rooms, female doctors on request, family accompaniment throughout — coordinated before arrival.
Hospital fees are settled by us on the guest's behalf: you pay the total into our receiving account (USD card or bank transfer) and we clear the hospital bill.
Middle-class Egyptians can't stretch to German or Singaporean prices, and local public hospitals are overcrowded. Screening catches the endemic hypertension, diabetes and hepatitis B. Corporate groups and business delegations are the entry.
Turkey's own healthcare is strong, so demand here is narrow: second opinions on complex conditions. Physician referrals feed the MDT service.
Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria traditionally head to France; interest in Asia is growing, and a French-speaking escort decides most of it. We enter via our Gulf and Egypt partners.
Patient numbers from Latin America are climbing, but there's no direct flight and a visa is required, so the bar is high. "Healthcation" packages can wait until Gulf volume is proven.
Gulf patients don't compare China with the US — they compare us with Bumrungrad (Bangkok), Singapore and Germany. Our edge: the same Tier-3A imaging (brain MRI, PET-CT, gene panels) at a typically much lower out-of-pocket cost (final price confirmed by the hospital), same-day scheduling, bilingual reports in days.
And in serious care the gap is decisive: CAR-T $150k–220k all-inclusive in China vs $400k+ in the US; proton/heavy-ion $45k–60k vs €80k+ in Europe.
Most of our guests arrive through insurers, brokers, agencies and health-advisory practices. Everything about working together — rates, terms, settlement, contracts — lives in our partner portal, behind a login. Register with the invitation code your account manager gives you; if you don't have one yet, ask at care@meditrip-china.com.
Registration requires a valid invitation code. Rates and program terms are shown inside the portal only.