Government News
Local leading public hospitals include culture into international medical tourism 2025-12-11
Culture has been added to Shanghai's scheme to boost international medical service.Local leading public hospitals are boosting international medical tourism by developing tourism byproducts featuring the city's special history and cultural background, as well as time-honored hospital architecture, as a part of their attraction.
The first batch of medical tourism byproducts developed by Huashan Hospital's Worldwide Medical Center and local tourism authority, historians, and architects is a series of cultural and creative products featuring the age-old protected buildings in leading hospitals.
Cotton bags, fridge magnets and cell phone chains with images of time-honored and unique buildings of medical facilities like Huashan Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital and Renji Hospital are made into souvenirs of Shanghai's international medical tourism.
It is a new measure that the health authority and public hospitals have adopted to attract international patients through their outstanding medical capabilities, good service, innovative practices, foreign service experiences and their special background, officials said at the recent annual meeting of the Shanghai Medical Association's (SMA) international medicine branch.
Wu Jinglei, director of the SMA, said Shanghai's ambition in expanding the market of international medical service should meet the demand of expatriates living in China and attract overseas patients to the city for treatment.
"Medical technology is the key to exploring the overseas market. Technologies like neurological surgery, children's liver transplant and CAR-T therapy in Shanghai have gained international competitiveness," he noted.
"We should keep developing our majors with a strong advantage, enhance international cooperation and build a brand with international influence, especially for leading public hospitals."
Images of time-honored and unique buildings of medical facilities like Huashan Hospital, Ruijin Hospital, Zhongshan Hospital and Renji Hospital have been used on cotton bags, fridge magnets and cell phone chains to be souvenirs of Shanghai's international medical tourism.Gu Jingwen, director of Huashan Hospital's Worldwide Medical Center and its international medicine branch, said Shanghai has many unique advantages in boosting international medical service, as it is a city with high medical ability as well as a very special background in China's process of introduction and development of western medicine.
"Shanghai is the birthplace of Western hospitals in China, as many leading public hospitals were built by medical missionaries and foreign businessmen. Many of these hospitals' buildings were designed and constructed by famous architects such as (Laszlo) Hudec," Gu observed.
"To build a closer connection and promote an international background with overseas patients, we have started to introduce cultural elements into our medical service. International medical tourism is actually medicine, plus tourism, plus culture. We want to offer expat patients more than just medical service."
According to medical historian Lu Ming's thesis "A Brief History of Western Hospitals in Modern Shanghai," around 300 Western hospitals were founded in the city from 1844 to 1949. "These are all very precious heritage for the city as well as attractions for international medical service," Gu added.
Gu's team said they will step up cooperation with the local tourism authority and relevant departments to develop more byproducts to give expat patients and their families a special experience in Shanghai.
Source: City News Service
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