LASIK, SMILE or ICL in China: What Each Costs and Why (2026)

There is no national price for LASIK, SMILE or ICL in mainland China: each province or city decides whether public hospitals charge a capped price or set their own^[2][4][8], and on the lists we checked laser vision correction is outside basic medical insurance^[4][6][8]. On official 2025–2026 lists, the public-hospital surgery fee per eye is about ¥7,500–9,700 for SMILE, ¥5,400–8,600 for LASIK-type surgery and ¥2,000–3,733 for surface (PRK-type) laser, depending on the city and the hospital^{[4][6][9][10]}. ICL is billed as an implantation fee — capped at ¥1,586–1,983 per eye in Suzhou by hospital price category and at ¥2,205–2,535 in Shanghai by hospital grade — plus the lens, which one public hospital lists at ¥12,500^[4][6][14]. VIP (特需) clinics, international departments and private hospitals set their own prices: the two VIP lists we checked charge ¥10,855–12,168 per eye for SMILE, more than any public list, while private eye hospitals sell two-eye packages that can cost more or less than public fees^{[11][12][13][23]}. The higher VIP figure is Peking University First Hospital's price for an item called "femtosecond-laser corneal surgery"; we take it to be SMILE because the hospital bills a "semi-femtosecond" (femtosecond LASIK) version at 70%^[11].

This guide sets out what the official price lists say, why the same operation is priced so differently, and what a written quote should contain. For safety, candidacy and the trip schedule, read common eye surgeries in China and refractive surgery in China.

SMILE, LASIK, PRK or ICL: what each is generally for

Each method suits different eyes, and only a full pre-operative exam can show which, if any, fits yours.

• LASIK and femtosecond LASIK (半飞秒) lift a thin corneal flap and reshape the cornea underneath. LASIK treats nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism; it is not used for corneas that are too thin, severe dry eye or keratoconus^[24].
• Surface laser — PRK, TransPRK (表层手术) reshapes the cornea without a flap. It may be an option for people with thin corneas or a very active lifestyle or job^[25].
• SMILE (全飞秒) cuts a small lens-shaped piece of tissue inside the cornea and removes it through a small incision. China's national norm sets its general range at nearsightedness from −0.50 to −10.00 D with astigmatism up to 5.00 D, for adults whose prescription has been stable for two years^[19].
• ICL (有晶体眼人工晶体植入) places a lens inside the eye, behind the iris and in front of the eye's own lens, without removing corneal tissue. The national norm requires, among other things, at least 2,000 corneal endothelial cells/mm² and generally an anterior chamber depth of at least 2.80 mm^[20]. A domestically developed phakic lens approved in January 2025 corrects nearsightedness from −3.25 to −18.00 D in adults^[17].

Which method fits your eyes is your surgeon's decision after the exam. Prices only matter once you know what you are eligible for.

LASIK, SMILE and ICL cost in China: the official numbers

The table compares the surgery fee per eye — the operation itself — from two city price caps and from price lists that hospitals publish. Public hospitals bill exams, drugs and follow-up visits separately.

Procedure (Chinese billing item)	Shanghai public-hospital cap, from 30 June 2026	Suzhou cap by hospital price category (highest / middle / lowest), from 26 June 2026	Other official public-hospital prices	VIP and private lists
Surface laser, PRK-type (角膜切削费)	¥3,733 at tertiary hospitals, ¥3,246 at secondary and primary[4]	¥3,260 / ¥2,934 / ¥2,608[6]	Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital ¥2,000[9]	Peking University First Hospital, VIP area: PRK ¥3,465[11]
LASIK, femtosecond LASIK (角膜磨镶费)	¥8,600 at every grade[4]	¥7,000 / ¥6,300 / ¥5,600[6]	Shenzhen Bao'an District People's Hospital, femtosecond LASIK ¥7,500[10]; Yantai ¥5,400[9]	Yiyang Aier Eye Hospital (VIP), incl. corneal topography: ¥10,387[12]
SMILE (角膜基质透镜取出费)	¥9,700 at every grade[4]	¥9,342 / ¥8,408 / ¥7,474[6]	Shenzhen Bao'an ¥8,400[10]; Yantai ¥8,400[9]	Peking University First Hospital, VIP area: femtosecond-laser corneal surgery ¥12,168 (the "semi-femtosecond" version is billed at 70%)[11]; Yiyang Aier (VIP), incl. a planning module: ¥10,855[12]
ICL implantation, lens extra (人工晶状体植入费（复杂）)	¥2,535 at tertiary hospitals, ¥2,205 at secondary and primary; second eye at half price[4]	¥1,983 / ¥1,785 / ¥1,586[6]	Fujian provincial public hospitals in Fuzhou: ¥2,400 at tertiary grade-A (三甲), ¥2,160 at others (cap, from 15 April 2026)[7][8]	Yiyang Aier (VIP) ¥3,450, lens excluded[12]
ICL lens itself (consumable)	Purchase price, no markup[4]	Purchase price, no markup[6]	Quzhou People's Hospital: ¥12,500 standard, ¥14,500 toric, per lens[14]	—

Dates and scope: Yantai's list of self-priced items was published on 14 May 2026^[9]; the Bao'an market-priced list applies from 17 September 2025^[10]; the Peking University First Hospital figures are from its online price lookup, checked in October 2026^[11]; the VIP list of Yiyang Aier Eye Hospital, a private hospital in Hunan, was published on 10 October 2026^[12]; the Quzhou consumables list was checked in October 2026^[14]. Caps are maximums: public hospitals may charge less^[4].

Example — two eyes, surgery fee only. SMILE at a Shanghai public hospital charging the cap: 2 × ¥9,700 = ¥19,400. Shanghai's list gives no second-eye reduction for the laser items, though it halves the fee for a second lens implantation^[4]. In Suzhou the same operation on both eyes in one session is billed at 50% for the second eye, so the top-category cap works out at ¥9,342 + ¥4,671 = ¥14,013^[6]. Neither figure includes exams, drugs or follow-up visits.

Advertised private packages, both eyes. Chengdu Aier Eye Hospital, a private chain hospital, advertises on an undated page of its website (checked October 2026): SMILE ¥15,800, femtosecond LASIK ¥13,800–21,800 depending on the lasers and the customised treatment profile, surface laser (LASEK) ¥7,800, ICL ¥33,200, toric ICL ¥37,200 and femtosecond-assisted ICL ¥43,200^[13]. These are marketing prices, not an official price notice.

Why there is no single price

The national rules define the item, not the price. In early 2025 the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) merged 563 eye procedures into 125 billing items^[2] and gave SMILE its own item, the "lenticule extraction fee", deliberately named after the result rather than a laser type or device^[1]. Provinces then set price benchmarks, and local authorities set the actual levels^[2].

Provinces go different ways.

• Capped prices: Shanghai sets maximum prices for all public hospitals from 30 June 2026^[3][4]; Suzhou sets government-guided prices by hospital category from 26 June 2026^[5][6].
• Hospital-set prices: Fujian's 2026 list marks all three corneal laser items as priced by the hospital itself (自主定价) and outside medical insurance^[7][8]; Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital publishes them among its self-priced items^[9]; a district public hospital in Shenzhen lists SMILE and femtosecond LASIK as market-priced items^[10].
• VIP area: at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing, the femtosecond and excimer laser items are listed as market-priced services restricted to the VIP (特需) area^[11].

Insurance does not change the picture. In the city and provincial lists we checked, laser vision correction is outside basic medical insurance even for insured residents: "not paid" in Shanghai, category C with 100% self-payment in Suzhou, and "non-insurance" in Fujian^[4][6][8]. The ICL implantation item, a general item that also covers lens suspension and capsular tension rings, is listed as insurable in all three, but Shanghai's notice excludes items that do not treat a disease from insurance payment, so ask whether a myopia ICL qualifies^[3][4][6][8].

Foreign patients: Beijing's official guide for foreigners says international patients are charged the same standard as Chinese residents and pay out of pocket or through commercial insurance^[22]. VIP clinics, international departments and private hospitals set their own prices^[11][12][23]: Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, for example, states that its international-service prices are set by the centre and paid fully by the patient^[23]. See international departments explained.

What drives the price

1. The procedure, and what the billing item covers

On each list above that prices all three, surface laser is the cheapest item and SMILE the most expensive laser item, with LASIK in between^[4][6][9]. Read the fine print, too. Shanghai's SMILE and LASIK items forbid a separate charge for femtosecond or excimer laser assistance and bill non-lamellar corneal surgery under the LASIK item at half price^[4]. Yiyang Aier's VIP list, by contrast, prices femtosecond-laser assistance as its own line at ¥6,800 per session^[12]. Ask whether the laser is inside the surgery fee or a separate line, and whether a price is per eye or for both eyes.

2. Laser platform and treatment profile

The national item is not tied to a laser type or device, so in Shanghai, for example, one SMILE cap applies whatever the laser and whatever the grade of public hospital^[1][4]. Equipment differences show up in VIP and private pricing instead. Yiyang Aier's VIP list adds a planning module to SMILE and corneal topography to femtosecond LASIK^[12]; the Chengdu private hospital advertises femtosecond LASIK at ¥13,800–21,800 for both eyes, depending on the lasers and topography- or Q-value-guided profiles used^[13]. Ask which laser and which treatment profile your quote is for.

3. For ICL, the lens

Public hospitals sell consumables other than basic supplies at their actual purchase price, with no markup^[4][6], so the lens appears as its own line — and it is the biggest one. One Zhejiang public hospital lists ¥12,500 for a standard and ¥14,500 for a toric (astigmatism-correcting) phakic lens^[14]; a public hospital in Anhui capped its 2025 purchase at ¥11,200 and ¥13,200 per lens^[15]. Phakic lenses were excluded from China's 2023 national intraocular-lens procurement^[16], so no national procurement price applies to them, unlike cataract lenses; see cataract lens types and prices. Ask which lens model and size the quote assumes and why it suits your eyes: the national norm bases the choice on anterior chamber depth, corneal diameter and similar measurements^[20]. In the Chengdu private hospital's advertised prices, femtosecond-assisted ICL costs ¥43,200 against ¥33,200 for a standard ICL^[13].

4. Surgeon seniority, VIP and international clinics

On the capped lists the surgery fee can vary with the hospital's grade or price category, but there is no surcharge for the surgeon's rank^[4][6]. Seniority shows up elsewhere: in consultation fees — Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, for example, lists a ¥200 surcharge for a "renowned expert" outpatient consultation^[9] — and in VIP and international clinics, which are separate, market-priced tiers^[11][23].

5. What the price includes

Public hospitals bill the pre-operative work-up test by test. Shanghai's caps, each per eye, are ¥70 for corneal topography, ¥100 for ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), ¥190 for OCT (scans of the fundus, the anterior segment and the fundus blood vessels can be billed separately, up to ¥950 per session) and ¥54 for the corneal cell examination^[4], and the national norms list a dozen routine tests before SMILE or ICL^[19][20]. Follow-up is long: checks at day 1, week 1, month 1, months 3 and 6 and year 1, then about every six months^[19][20]. Find out which visits a quote covers; the Chengdu private hospital's advertised packages, for example, include a year of free check-ups at the group's hospitals after laser surgery, but not after lens surgery^[13]. Ask about enhancements too: the SMILE norm advises re-treatment only once the prescription is fully stable, and the ICL norm warns that a lens may need to be removed, exchanged or repositioned^[19][20].

Claims you will read, checked against the price lists

Claim	What the official lists show
"Public hospitals are always cheaper."	Not always. At Shanghai's cap, surgery fees for SMILE on both eyes can reach ¥19,400 (see the Example above)[4], more than one Chengdu private hospital's advertised two-eye package of ¥15,800[13]; at Suzhou's top-category cap, both eyes come to ¥14,013[6]. Caps are maximums, and packages differ in what they include.
"Foreigners pay a higher price."	Not for the same service: Beijing's official guide says international patients pay the same charge standard as residents[22]. International departments are a separate, self-priced tier[23].
"A newer laser always costs more."	Not under Shanghai's cap, which has one SMILE price[4]. VIP lists and private advertised prices do vary with equipment and profiles[12][13].
"Most of an ICL bill is the surgeon's fee."	In public billing the lens is the largest line: one public hospital lists ¥12,500–14,500 per lens[14], against an implantation fee capped at ¥1,586–2,535 per eye[4][6].

Who performs SMILE and ICL: the 2024 national norms

In December 2024 the National Health Commission issued national technical norms for SMILE and ICL^[18]. Both require a surgeon who holds a physician's licence and is registered at the operating institution, recommend attending-ophthalmologist level or above with a foundation in eye microsurgery, and make procedure-specific training mandatory^[19][20]. The norms do not set prices. For how to check a hospital or surgeon, and whether LASIK in China is safe, see common eye surgeries in China.

Compared with abroad

In the United States, the average price of LASIK in 2026 is about $2,246 per eye, and most medical and vision insurance plans do not cover it^[21]. Compare like with like: a Chinese public-hospital figure is a per-eye surgery fee without exams or follow-up, while many foreign and Chinese private prices are packages. Then add flights, about a week in China for the exam, surgery and early checks, and follow-up care at home — the schedule is on refractive surgery in China, and costs and price comparison shows how to compare quotes.

What to ask for in a written quote

Ask for	Why it matters
The tier: ordinary clinic, VIP (特需), international department or private hospital	Different price rules apply, even inside one hospital[11][23]
Per eye or both eyes, and the second-eye rule	Suzhou bills a same-session second eye at 50%; Shanghai does not for laser items[4][6]
The procedure, the laser and the treatment profile	VIP and private lists price these differently[12][13]
Whether laser assistance is included	Shanghai forbids a separate charge; one VIP list we checked itemises it[4][12]
For ICL: lens model, size, toric or not, and the lens as a separate line	The lens is the largest cost and differs by type[14]
The exam price, and what you pay if you are not a candidate	Public hospitals bill each test separately[4]
Drops and follow-up visits: included, and how many	The norms set checks for at least a year[19][20]
Enhancement, lens-exchange or repositioning policy and price	The norms anticipate both[19][20]
An official invoice (发票) and an itemised bill (费用清单)	Needed for records and any insurance claim

Send these questions in English and Chinese with the inquiry letter tool, and keep the written answer.

Next steps

• Compare hospitals offering refractive surgery, or narrow the list to Shanghai or Beijing.
• Read refractive surgery in China for the trip schedule and common eye surgeries in China for safety checks.
• Ask for an assessment and a quote before you book flights: online consultation before travel.
• Plan the exam, surgery, check-ups and recovery days with the AI planner.