Checked against hospital websites
Chinese hospitals with international or special-needs departments
A short list of major Chinese hospitals that publish an international or special-needs department, with the official department name in Chinese, the official link, and only the contact details the hospital itself publishes.
Read this before you use the list
Every entry below was checked against the hospital's own website — not directories, agencies or medical-tourism sites. Where a hospital does not publish something (an address, a phone number, an English name), this page says so rather than filling the gap from another source. Phone numbers for these hospitals circulate widely on third-party sites; many are out of date, and a wrong number for a hospital department is worse than none.
This is deliberately a short list, not a ranking. It does not say which hospital is better, which suits your condition, or what results to expect. Those are questions for a doctor. It exists so you can find the right department and contact it yourself.
Details change. Departments get renamed, numbers change and campuses move. Treat everything here as a starting point and confirm directly with the hospital before you travel or book.
"International department" does not mean the same thing everywhere
There is no standard national term, and this is where most international patients lose time. What English-language pages call an "international department" corresponds to several different Chinese units:
- 国际医疗部 / 国际医疗中心 — an international medical department or centre. The closest to what the English name suggests.
- 国际部 — literally "international department". Used by China-Japan Friendship Hospital.
- 特需医疗 — "special needs" medical services: a separate outpatient track, open to Chinese and foreign patients alike, with its own registration route. At several major hospitals the service presented in English as "international" is formally a division of the 特需医疗 centre rather than a department in its own right.
- 惠侨医疗 — historically established for overseas-Chinese patients. The name refers to that heritage, not to foreign-language service.
Two practical consequences. First, if you telephone and ask in English for the "international department", staff may not recognise the term — asking for the Chinese unit name in the tables below is far more likely to reach the right desk. Second, because 特需医疗 is a separate registration track, ask the hospital how it is billed before you book; this page does not publish prices for any hospital.
Beijing
| Hospital | Unit | Published contact |
|---|---|---|
| Peking Union Medical College Hospital 北京协和医院 ims.pumch.cn | 国际医疗部 No settled English department name appears on the hospital's own pages, so use the Chinese term. | Appointments 86-10-69156699 Switchboard 010-69156114 Booking via the hospital's official app 东单院区: 北京市东城区帅府园一号 (100730) |
| Beijing Friendship Hospital 首都医科大学附属北京友谊医院 bfh.com.cn | 国际医疗中心 No official English name for the hospital or the department is published on its own site. | 010-63137608 (西城院区) 010-80838436 (通州院区) Switchboard 010-63138585 西城院区 address from the hospital's contact page: 北京市西城区永安路95号 (100050) |
| China-Japan Friendship Hospital 中日友好医院 zryhyy.com.cn | 国际部 International Department Note the characters: 国际部, not 国际医疗部. | Enquiries 010-84205121 / 010-64222952 Appointments 010-64282297 / 010-84205071 北京市朝阳区樱花园东街 (the department page gives the street without a house number) |
Beijing Friendship Hospital publishes a channel it labels a 24-hour English-language telephone enquiry service (18618226271 / 18618226273). That is the hospital's own label for the channel; this page makes no claim about the language ability of any individual member of staff.
Shanghai
| Hospital | Unit | Published contact |
|---|---|---|
| Ruijin Hospital 上海交通大学医学院附属瑞金医院 rjh.com.cn | 国际医疗部 (outward-facing label) 特需医疗保健中心 (formal unit name) Both names appear on the same official page; expect either when you call. | No department phone or email is published. Use the contact routes on the hospital's own site. 上海市瑞金二路197号 (200025) |
| Huashan Hospital 复旦大学附属华山医院 huashan.org.cn | 国际医疗中心 No official English department name is published on the page. | No number, email or address is published on the department page. Use the contact routes on the hospital's own site. |
Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University (复旦大学附属中山医院) is deliberately not listed. Its official domain returned an error on every attempt during checking, so nothing could be confirmed from the hospital itself. Its international department may well exist — but an unverified entry is worse than none, so it stays out until the site can be read directly.
Guangzhou
| Hospital | Unit | Published contact |
|---|---|---|
| The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University — Nansha campus 中山大学附属第一医院南沙院区 nansha.fahsysu.org.cn | 国际医疗中心 International Medical Center | 020-89998001 zsyyns@mail.sysu.edu.cn 广州市南沙区横顺二路8号 (511466) |
| The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University — main campus 中山大学附属第一医院 English page · Chinese page | 特需医疗中心门诊 The English site labels this "International Medicine"; the corresponding Chinese unit is the special-needs clinic, not a separate international department. | Registration (020) 87332200-8225 Results -8228 · Check-up (020) 87334605 广州市中山二路58号 (510080) |
| Nanfang Hospital 南方医科大学南方医院 nfyy.com | 惠侨医疗中心 Established for overseas-Chinese patients. Its page states it serves foreign patients through the hospital's internet service. | No dedicated international desk is published. General appointment line 020-61641888 广州市广州大道北1838号 (510515) |
The two Sun Yat-sen entries are separate campuses with separate websites, on opposite sides of the city. The Nansha campus publishes an international medical centre with its own email address; the main Zhongshan Er Lu campus publishes a special-needs clinic instead. A contact at one will not reach the other.
Chengdu
| Hospital | Unit | Published contact |
|---|---|---|
| West China Hospital, Sichuan University 四川大学华西医院 wchscu.cn | 国际医疗, a division of 特需医疗中心 English pages use "International Medical Center" as a label. The special-needs centre lists exactly three divisions: 特需门诊, 特需病房, 国际医疗. | No department phone or address is published on this page. Use the contact routes on the hospital's own site. |
What to confirm before you commit
Whichever hospital you approach, get these five things in writing before booking flights. A phone call that is not written down is worth very little when you arrive.
- That they will see you at all, for your specific condition, as a foreign patient.
- Which unit you should attend, using its Chinese name, and at which campus — large hospitals run several, sometimes far apart.
- What it will cost and how it is billed, especially if you are routed into a 特需医疗 track.
- What documents to bring and in what language. See what documents to prepare.
- What language support exists for the consultation, and whether you need your own interpreter. See interpreting for hospital visits.
For four of the entries above no department contact is published at all. In that case work through the hospital's main website or general switchboard and ask for the unit by its Chinese name — that is more reliable than a number found on a third-party directory.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a ranking of the best hospitals in China?
No. It is a checked list of hospitals that publish an international or special-needs department, nothing more. It makes no claim about quality, outcomes or suitability for any condition, and the order carries no meaning. Which hospital is right for you is a clinical question for a qualified doctor.
Why are some entries missing a phone number or address?
Because the hospital does not publish one on the relevant official page. Numbers for these hospitals circulate widely on directory and agency sites, but those are frequently out of date, and a wrong number for a hospital department is worse than no number. Where a hospital publishes nothing, this page says so.
What is 特需医疗?
特需医疗 is a separate outpatient track available to Chinese and foreign patients alike, with its own registration route. At several major hospitals the service presented in English as "international" is formally part of this track rather than a department of its own. Because it is billed separately from the standard outpatient route, ask the hospital directly what it costs before booking — this page does not publish prices.
Can I just turn up at the international department?
Contact them first and get a reply in writing. Confirm they will see your condition, which campus to attend and what to bring. Arriving unannounced risks being turned away or being routed into the standard outpatient system, which operates in Chinese.