Shanghai poised for boom in medical tourism

 09-Oct-15, Global Times China 

According to a recent report issued by the Stanford Research Institute International, the forecast for global medical tourism by the year 2017 will be $678.5 billion. For perspective, they note that global medical tourist expenditures were $438.6 billion in 2013. Among mainland Chinese, $10 billion was spent abroad last year for healthcare services.

Image: Formosa Travel

This must be music to the ears of the Shanghai Medical Tourism Products & Promotions Platform, which is positioning Shanghai for a mega-boom in medical tourism among mainlanders and foreigners alike, most notably in surgery, cosmetic procedures, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), dentistry and even stem cell research.

Previously dismissed as quackery, TCM treatments and prescriptions are now becoming highly sought after by health-conscious, Big Pharma-wary North Americans and Europeans. According to the International Medical Travel Journal, Russians, Swedes and even Kazakhs regularly fly to Hainan Province in South China, known locally as "island of longevity" for its history with holistic healing institutions.

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