Hospital Admission in China: Deposits, Wards & Caregivers (2026)

Being admitted to a public hospital in mainland China works the same way for foreigners as for local patients: the doctor issues an admission notice (住院证), you register at the admission office with your passport, pay a deposit (预交金) and move to the ward once a bed is free. Beds in ordinary shared rooms are usually charged at government-capped prices, while single rooms and international wards are generally priced by each hospital. If you will need help with eating, washing or moving around, plan for a family companion or a paid caregiver (护工), unless your ward offers the new hospital-run "no-companion" care. Before you leave, collect the discharge summary, the itemised bill and the refund of any unused deposit.

Rules differ between hospitals and even between wards, so treat every hospital named below as an example and confirm the details with yours.

Your stay at a glance

Stage	Chinese term	What happens
Admission notice	住院证 / 入院证	The doctor decides you need a bed and notes the deposit to bring
Admission office	入院服务中心 / 住院处	You register with your passport and pay the deposit
Waiting for a bed	待床 / 候床	The hospital calls or messages you when a bed is free
On the ward	护士站 / 陪护证	You report to the nurses' station; a companion gets a pass
Every day	费用清单	You can check the day's itemised charges
Leaving	出院小结 / 出院结算	Discharge summary, final settlement, refund, take-home medicines

From admission notice to a bed

When an outpatient doctor decides you need inpatient care, they issue an admission certificate. At West China Hospital in Chengdu, the certificate states the deposit to prepare, and you register for a bed at the Admission Service Centre (入院服务中心) through the hospital app, a kiosk or a staffed window, then receive a slip showing the expected wait^[1]. The hospital schedules critical cases first and asks patients to report anyone who offers paid "fast admission"^[1].

Waiting for a bed (待床). At Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, patients wait for a call from the admission office and then come at the stated time with their hospital card, a copy of their ID — a passport for foreigners — and the deposit^[2]. West China sends app users the date by push message and text and asks them to confirm within 15 minutes, otherwise staff phone^[1]. Give the hospital a Chinese number that will reach you, such as a local SIM or a companion's phone; see apps and connectivity.

What to bring to the admission office:

• Your passport — the same document your patient file was opened with. Beijing Anding Hospital, for example, asks self-pay and foreign patients for a passport or other valid ID plus the hospital card^[3]. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan residents use the permit they registered with; see your first hospital visit.
• The admission notice, your hospital card and the deposit.
• Online self-admission, such as Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital's WeChat service, asks for uploads of an ID card and social-security card^[9]; with a passport, the staffed window is the safer choice.

Police registration. Chinese law requires foreigners staying anywhere other than a hotel to be registered with the police within 24 hours; since 21 September 2026 this can be done online through the NIA 12367 app or its WeChat and Alipay mini programs^[5]. For hospital stays we found no national rule, but one Beijing hospital's 2011 rules ask a companion to register a foreign, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan inpatient with the local police within 24 hours^[4]. If you give up your hotel room, ask the admission office what applies.

Longer stays. If complications or a wait for a bed could outlast your visa or visa-free period, apply to the local Exit-Entry Administration before it ends (visa holders at least seven days ahead)^[32], with your passport and hospital documents; see visa and entry.

Deposits (预交金): amounts, payment and refunds

A deposit is a prepayment into your inpatient account. You may be asked to top it up during the stay^[2], and at discharge the hospital refunds any surplus or collects any shortfall^[7].

Since 30 June 2025, a national rule requires public hospitals to set inpatient deposits by diagnosis and treatment, based on the previous three years' average costs, to cut deposits for insured patients to the average out-of-pocket amount, and to publish the deposits for common conditions^[6]. Visitors without Chinese insurance are charged as self-pay patients^[3], so look at the self-pay column:

• Example: at Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital in Hangzhou (June 2025), the self-pay deposit is ¥12,200 for gallbladder removal (¥4,000–7,200 for insured patients), ¥4,700 for therapeutic colonoscopy, ¥27,100 for other spinal surgery and ¥90,700 for invasive ventilation of 96 hours or more^[7].
• Example: Beijing Anding Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, lists ¥20,000 for self-pay and foreign patients against ¥8,000 for insured patients (undated page, read October 2026)^[3].
• International and VIP care may follow separate rules: China-Japan Friendship Hospital's published standard excludes its International Department's special-needs care^[8]. Ask the international desk for its deposit in writing.

A deposit is not a price cap, so ask for a written cost estimate too.

Paying. Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital accepts Alipay, WeChat Pay, bank cards, cash, bank transfer and cheque^[7]; at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, credit cards may only be used by the cardholder^[9]. None of these pages says whether foreign Visa or Mastercard cards are accepted, so ask, and check your wallet limits in our payments guide. For critically ill patients, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital treats first and collects the deposit later^[7]; see also emergency in China.

Keep every receipt. Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center asks for all deposit receipts at discharge and does not accept card-terminal slips in their place^[2].

Refunds. Public hospitals should complete the final settlement within three working days of discharge and are moving towards 24 hours^[6]. Refunds usually go back the way you paid. Example (news report, 2025): at Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, an insured domestic patient's unused deposit was back in WeChat Pay within minutes^[11]. A refund to a foreign card can take days; ask the cashier how yours will be paid (payments guide).

Ward types and bed fees

Ward	How the bed fee is set	Example
Ordinary shared room (3 or more beds)	Government-capped price	Shanghai tertiary hospitals, from 20 April 2026: up to ¥68 a day in a 3-bed room, ¥58 with 4 or more beds[12]
Single room on a normal ward (double rooms too in Shanghai)	Usually set by the hospital; not paid by Shanghai's basic insurance[12]. Some provinces still cap double rooms (Fujian provincial hospitals, 2026: up to ¥70 a day)[30]	Shenzhen Children's Hospital (planned prices, June 2026): ¥360 a day for an ordinary single room, market-priced and self-paid[13]
International or VIP (特需) ward	Set by the hospital; other charges may be higher too	Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University, international department (proposed April 2026): ¥1,800 a night for a single room, ¥3,000 for a suite, tests and treatment at twice the standard price[14]; Shenzhen Children's Hospital's 特需 single rooms: ¥560–960 a day[13]

The bed is only one line on the bill: Shanghai tertiary hospitals may also charge up to ¥50 a day for the doctor's inpatient consultation^[12]. Daily items such as the bed are counted in half days — a morning admission is a full day, an afternoon admission half; a morning discharge is free, an afternoon discharge half^[12].

Huashan Hospital's International Medical Center has its own inpatient ward with 25 single rooms and VIP suites, and its doctors co-manage inpatients with the specialists^[15]; see our Huashan guide. PUMCH's International Medical Services gives inpatients single rooms or suites^[16]. Ask whether your specialty admits patients there.

Privacy. When beds are short, shared rooms may be mixed-sex^[10]; if that is a problem, ask about a single room before admission.

Daily life on the ward

• Meals. Hospital kitchens deliver to the ward; you order by QR code at the bed or in the hospital app, often a day ahead, and patients with diabetes or kidney disease get a prescribed diet^[10][17]. West China asks patients to bring their own tableware^[17].
• Visiting hours are limited — for example 16:00–20:00 every day at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital and on West China's pain ward^[10][17] — and young children are discouraged^[10].
• You can't come and go. Patients are asked not to leave the ward or the hospital, or to stay out overnight, during the stay^[10]. Do your sightseeing before admission; see recovery and travel activities.
• Pack: passport and copies, admission papers and deposit receipts, your current medicines (show them to the nurse), toiletries and a towel, non-slip slippers, a cup, bowl and spoon, and a phone charger. Rice cookers and other high-power appliances are not allowed^[17]. Leave valuables at the hotel.
• Companion beds: some wards hand out a fold-out bed at night but no bedding^[17]; others rent them by QR code^[10].

Companions, caregivers (护工) and no-companion wards

Family companions (陪护). The doctor decides whether you need someone to stay; if so, one companion gets a pass at the nurses' station^[17][18]. Beijing's rules cap companions at one per bed, keep them out of intensive care units, where the hospital provides all care, and forbid hospitals to make you hire a caregiver when family can stay or no companion has been ordered^[18]. See also traveling with companions.

Paid caregivers. Caregivers may be hired privately or come from the hospital itself, a medical-services company or a firm under contract to the hospital^[19]. Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, for example, arranges trained personal-care aides through its property-management company on request^[10]. In Beijing, a caregiver you hire counts as your companion and may not do any clinical nursing^[18]. A Workers' Daily report (2025) cites research putting caregiver fees at about ¥300–330 a day in first-tier cities and ¥260–300 in second- and third-tier cities, and describes disputes over extras such as meal money of ¥30–100 a day^[19]. Agree the daily price, hours, meals and tasks in writing before the first shift. A caregiver is not an interpreter; for language help and escorts, see medical escort services.

No-companion wards (免陪照护). Under a national pilot running from June 2025 to June 2027, selected tertiary hospitals let patients choose — with informed consent — daily care from nurses or hospital-employed care workers instead of family; the care workers help with eating, washing and bathing but may not do clinical work^[20]. Shanghai offers round-the-clock care to patients on special or first-level nursing in its pilot wards; patients may still choose a market-priced caregiver instead, and the fee must be posted on the ward and shown in the daily charge list^[21]. By the end of January 2026 the service covered 1,313 wards in 57 Shanghai hospitals^[22]. Prices are set locally. Guangdong (since April 2025) allows up to ¥140 a day per patient when one carer looks after three patients, ¥180 for one carer to two and ¥280 for one-to-one, on top of the nursing fee, plus 20% for carers with a medical title and a hospital-set extra for foreign-language service^[23]. Hubei has capped the service at ¥100 a day since 20 November 2025^[24]. Shandong's guide price is ¥150 a day for shared care, and hospitals price one-to-one care themselves (since July 2025)^[31]. Ask at admission whether your ward offers it.

Your rights during the stay

Itemised charges. National rules require public hospitals to provide cost lists, on paper or electronically, showing each service, drug and consumable with its code, unit price, date, quantity and amount, and to print them on request^[25]. Beijing's rules (2006) go further: daily charges must be recorded, patients told how to check them, a daily list provided when asked and a full list given at discharge^[26]. In Shanghai, hospitals may not charge for these lists^[12]. Check them daily and query errors before discharge.

Informed consent (知情同意书). Before surgery or any risky test or treatment, staff must explain the risks and alternatives and obtain your written consent; if you cannot decide, for example because you are unconscious, they turn to your close relatives, and in an emergency the hospital's head can approve treatment^[27]. You sign yourself; if illness prevents it, the person you have authorised signs^[28]. If you want a family member to sign for you, ask at admission for the hospital's authorisation form (授权委托书) — Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital lists the patient, an authorised agent, close relatives or another relevant person as possible signatories^[10]. Medical records are written in Chinese^[28], so have every form explained by an interpreter before you sign; see language and interpreters.

Your records. National rules let you see and copy your entire record — from outpatient and admission notes, doctor's orders, test and imaging reports and consent forms to operation, anaesthesia, pathology and nursing records and the bills. The hospital stamps the copies and may charge only a published cost-of-materials fee^[27]. See medical records and follow-up. Copies may not be ready at once — Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital makes counter copies two weeks after discharge, or posts them^[10] — so request them early.

Discharge: summary, settlement and medicines

The doctor must complete the discharge record (出院记录, often called the 出院小结) within 24 hours of discharge, covering dates, diagnoses, treatment, your condition and instructions^[28]. One hospital's rules state that every discharged patient receives a copy, plus a diagnosis certificate on request^[29].

A typical sequence, from Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital: the nurses' station hands you a discharge notice; you bring your deposit receipts, the bank card you paid with and its card-terminal slip; you settle at the discharge window or, where offered, on the ward; you collect take-home medicines from the pharmacy; then you return the discharge slip to the ward and leave^[10].

• Insurance direct billing happens only where the hospital has an arrangement: Huashan's International Medical Center has direct-billing contracts with more than 30 insurers and third-party administrators^[15], PUMCH's International Medical Services offers commercial-insurance direct billing^[16], and the Children's Hospital of Zhejiang University includes direct billing in its international inpatient package^[14]. Elsewhere you pay and claim later; see insurance for treatment abroad.
• Take-home medicines: check names, doses and the number of days supplied before you leave, and read medicines and prescriptions if you will fly with them.
• Before you go, collect the official invoice (发票), the full itemised bill, the discharge summary, any diagnosis certificate, imaging and the deposit refund record.
• Follow-up: ask for a written plan and a contact for questions after you fly home; see online consultations before and after travel.

Leaving against medical advice (自动出院)

If you want to leave before the doctor thinks it is safe, the hospital will try to dissuade you and explain the risks. At the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, a doctor of associate chief rank or above must approve, and you or your authorised agent then sign a consent document before leaving; if you refuse to sign, the doctor records the conversation in your notes, with a witness^[29]. Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, for one, states that it is not responsible for harm when patients do not follow the agreed treatment plan^[10]. If an insurer or assistance company is involved, call them before you sign; they may want to arrange a transfer or an escort.

If you still have mainland medical insurance

If you still hold mainland basic medical insurance, a hospital in another province can bill it directly only after you file for cross-region treatment (异地就医备案) or obtain a referral, online via the national filing WeChat mini program or the National Medical Insurance Service Platform app, or at an insurance office^[9].

Next steps

• Book the first consultation with how to book a hospital appointment in China, and check which medical records to bring.
• Ask the hospital in writing for the deposit for your procedure, ward types and daily prices, companion rules and caregiver options; the bilingual inquiry letter drafts it for you.
• Compare hospitals by city in the directory, for example Shanghai.
• Let the AI planner fit admission, recovery days and your return flight into one plan.