Lecheng Medical Tourism Gains Popularity

Recently, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine rehabilitation department of Boao Super Hospital, 66-year-old Singaporean tourist Mr. Chen lay face down receiving acupuncture, while on the adjacent bed his wife had just finished gourd moxibustion. Mr. Chen has an old knee injury that requires a brace, and his wife has long suffered from tinnitus and insomnia. The couple had visited many hospitals across Southeast Asia with little effect.

To their surprise, after several treatments in the Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone (hereinafter "Lecheng"), they felt clear improvement. "We never expected this short trip would cure decades-old ailments," Mr. Chen remarked.

With 640,800 medical tourism visits — up 133.39% year-on-year — and 7,678 inbound medical tourism visits, up about 5.7 times, Lecheng became an increasingly popular choice for patients and tourists from home and abroad in the first half of this year.

Behind the surge lies an interesting phenomenon: some come for the world's latest drugs and devices, while others make the trip specifically for "a silver needle" or "a buffalo horn."

What Draws the Attention?

Special-approval drugs and devices are Lecheng's most prominent calling card. Recently, two patients from Myanmar and Japan traveled specifically to Ruijin Hospital Hainan (Hainan Boao Research Hospital), affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, seeking idebenone — a specific treatment for LHON (Leber hereditary optic neuropathy).

This is a blinding rare eye disease caused by mitochondrial gene mutations. Previously, effective causal treatment was unavailable not only in China but also in neighboring countries. In late December 2025, Ruijin Hainan Hospital successfully introduced idebenone, becoming the only medical institution in China with clinical access to the drug. To date, the hospital has served nearly 100 LHON patients from home and abroad.

Lecheng's appeal goes far beyond this. More and more people are discovering an alluring "Eastern calling card" here — Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Asher Hill, a figure skating choreographer and CBC sports commentator from Toronto, Canada, experienced TCM and ethnic medicine programs at the Boao Yiling Life Care Center.

What impressed him most was the buffalo horn cupping therapy. The therapist applied suction to the horn and placed it on his shoulder and back, with pressure reaching deep into the muscles of his shoulders and hips — the chronic strain accumulated over years of training seemed to be lifted away at once.

He had never experienced this kind of cupping, and this was far from the "massage resort" he had imagined — traditional medicine, Western medicine, and high-tech methods are integrated here, leaving him "completely amazed."

How Are Burdens Eased?

If TCM wellness attracts those seeking health, then what draws patients seeking survival to Lecheng are two "subtractions" implemented here.

The first subtraction is on tariffs. In the first half of this year, the total value of duty-free drugs and devices in Lecheng exceeded 100 million yuan, with tax reductions of over 14 million yuan.

Recently, at Ruijin Hainan Hospital, a 66-year-old patient with massive primary liver cancer successfully received Y-90 (yttrium-90) glass microsphere therapy. This is not only an internationally recognized cutting-edge cancer treatment, but also the first Y-90 surgery to benefit from the Hainan Free Trade Port's "zero tariff" policy on imported drugs and devices.

According to Jin Jiabin, vice president of the hospital, thanks to the "zero tariff" policy, the treatment cost dropped by more than 13%. Currently, more than ten provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) including Shanghai, Beijing, and Hainan have included Y-90 in the overseas special drug catalog of their inclusive insurance. If the two are combined, patients' out-of-pocket expenses will be further reduced.

The second subtraction is on payment pain points. Lecheng is working to build a one-stop cross-border insurance service platform and has signed a cooperation agreement with global insurance giant AXA to explore innovative medical insurance models.

Under the agreement, the two sides will deeply integrate Lecheng's special-approval medical resources with AXA's global professional insurance network. This forward-looking arrangement means that in the future, overseas patients seeking treatment in Lecheng are expected to bid farewell to the cumbersome "pay first, reimburse later" process and gradually enjoy the convenience of direct settlement through international insurance.

What Retains the Patients?

For international patients in Lecheng, what if they don't speak the language and medical terms are mistranslated? What if they're unfamiliar with the process — who coordinates appointments, referrals, and hospitalization? What if payment is inconvenient — can cross-border insurance be used? Lecheng is gradually solving these problems.

In May this year, the Lecheng International Medical Tourism Service Center was officially launched. The center integrates resources from more than 40 medical institutions in the park, establishing a cross-institution coordination mechanism to ensure real-time information sharing and interoperable business processes. It also launched the "LeCare" service brand, providing global patients with "one-stop" services from visa consultation and cross-border referral to wellness tourism through foreign-language hotlines and an international visitor information management platform.

Even more considerate is Lecheng's "service officer" system. International patients can be assigned a dedicated service officer who accompanies them throughout — from airport pickup, accommodation, and medical interpretation to pre-visit consultation, in-visit service, and post-visit follow-up. Asher Hill was deeply impressed: "Everything is coordinated for you here; you don't need to worry about anything."

This is exactly the core experience Lecheng hopes to create: enabling international patients to access China's quality medical resources more conveniently and efficiently.

Meanwhile, to further expand the international medical tourism market, Lecheng continues to improve its marketing and incentive mechanisms, supporting travel agencies, hotels, and other market players to attract overseas tourists and further mobilizing enthusiasm across the international medical tourism industry chain. With "policy + service" working together, more overseas travel operators are proactively putting Lecheng into their product brochures.

From opening up medical resources, to improving the service system, to cultivating the market ecosystem, Lecheng is exploring an international medical tourism development model with its own characteristics —

Here, patients can not only receive treatment but also enjoy a health experience that integrates traditional Chinese medicine with modern medicine; here, there is not only medicine but also a new possibility for this tropical island to connect with global health needs. (Reporter: Chen Ziyi)