(Yicai) Oct. 19 -- The fall session of the twice-yearly China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair, has introduced an international medical services zone for the first time, giving Chinese hospitals a new platform to court overseas patients as the number of foreigners traveling to China for treatment grows.

The new zone offers an excellent platform for hospitals to expand their international reach, representatives of several participating hospitals told Yicai on the sidelines of the 140th Canton Fair, which opened in Guangzhou on Oct. 15.

GZ Medigo, Guangdong province's first one-stop digital platform for medical tourism, launched on the fair's opening day, Guangzhou Daily reported. Overseas patients can use the platform for online consultations, specialist appointments, payment, and follow-up services, while also accessing air travel, translation, hotels, cross-border payments, and other resources.

The two developments reflect an ongoing effort to make healthcare in China more accessible to international patients, as hospitals step up marketing of their clinical expertise, advanced equipment, competitive treatment costs, and integrated support services.

Guangzhou, the provincial capital, saw nearly 90,000 outpatient visits made by foreigners in the first half of this year, up almost 20 percent from a year earlier, Meng Hao, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government, said at the new zone's opening ceremony. The city's medical services for overseas patients cover 133 countries and regions, Meng pointed out.

Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine is building an international medical services model centered on Lingnan traditional Chinese medicine and integrating it with Western medical practices, Vice President Chen Hai said. Last year, the hospital recorded 80,000 patient visits from overseas, an increase of 17 percent year on year, Chen noted.

Fosun Health's four medical institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area attracted more than 20,000 inbound patients in 2025, with the figure expected to double this year, according to Chairman and Chief Executive Hu Hang.

Medical expertise, advanced equipment, cost-effectiveness, and access to innovative drugs are key attractions, he stressed, adding that China is filling gaps in support services such as multilingual assistance, travel arrangements, and commercial insurance coordination. The addition of the international medical services zone at the Canton Fair highlights China's shift from solely exporting goods to exporting goods and services, Hu added.

Patients choose hospitals primarily based on clinical expertise, followed by the quality of the care experience, noted Jie Yusheng, director of the medical affairs department at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.

“It’s very clear that the foreign patients making online inquiries about medical services in China are increasing month by month, and across a widening range," Wang Yao, founder of medical tourism intermediary Guangzhou Youyi Information Consulting, told Yicai. Online inquiries from overseas have risen from one or two a month initially to two or three a day, he pointed out, noting that dental and orthopedic treatment costs are lower in China than in some other countries.

In addition to Guangzhou, public hospitals in Shanghai saw the number of patients holding foreign passports jump by more than 8 percent last year from 2024, Jiefang Daily reported in February.

Editor: Martin Kadiev