Paying for Treatment in China from Russia: Cards, QR and Cash

The short version: Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks have not worked abroad since March 2022^[1], and Mir does not help in China^[1][2]. In 2026, five channels work for a treatment trip: a UnionPay card from one of the few Russian banks that issue them, the Nihao China app for paying with that card by QR code, QR payment in a Russian bank's own app (VTB, for example), cash yuan (with strict entry limits) and a bank transfer to the hospital in advance. None of these is guaranteed, so plan at least two independent ways to pay and test each one before you leave home. The general rules for Alipay and WeChat Pay, fapiao receipts and insurance paperwork are in our general guide to paying in China; this page covers only what is specific to holders of Russian cards.

What doesn't work: Visa, Mastercard and Mir

On 6 March 2022 the Bank of Russia announced that cross-border transactions on Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Russian banks would be unavailable, both for purchases in foreign online stores and for using the cards abroad^[1]. That means neither a Chinese hospital's terminal nor Alipay or WeChat Pay will accept such a card.

A Mir card does not solve the problem either. China was not on the list of countries where, according to the Bank of Russia, Mir was accepted^[1]. In 2026, Heilongjiang Daily, reporting on a joint project of the Heihe free trade zone and the local People's Bank of China branch, explicitly named the exit of Visa and Mastercard from Russia and the restricted use of Mir abroad as the reasons Russians have few ways to pay in China^[2]. That is why Heihe promotes not Mir but linking Russian UnionPay cards to the Nihao China app^[2].

UnionPay cards from Russian banks

UnionPay is China's national card network. The Chinese Embassy in Russia says a UnionPay card can be used at every merchant in China that has a bank-card terminal^[15], and UnionPay says such a card can withdraw cash at every ATM in mainland China^[16]. This describes the network as a whole; whether a particular Russian card works depends first of all on the issuing bank (see the section on sanctions risks).

As of 4 November 2026, UnionPay cards for use abroad are offered by:

We could not open Ingo Bank's official card page, so this row relies on a media report. Fees change: check them on the bank's website before applying.

Practical points:

• Six-digit PIN. RSHB advises that in countries where the terminal asks for a 6-digit PIN, you enter your 4-digit PIN followed by two zeros (for example, 999900)^[3]. Ask your own bank how this works for your card.
• Exchange rate. With a rouble card, yuan are debited at the issuing bank's rate^[11]. Compare it with the rate for buying yuan into a yuan account — it affects the final cost of treatment.
• Getting the card. RSHB issues the card at a branch, including on the day you apply; according to the bank, courier delivery is available only in Moscow within the MKAD ring road^[3]. Center-invest does not send cards by post, and an instant card can be picked up at an office^[5]. Get the card well before departure, not the day before: you still need to fund it, link it to Nihao China and test it.

Nihao China: QR payments with a Russian UnionPay card

Nihao China is China UnionPay's app for international visitors, officially launched on 19 December 2025^[7]. It runs on the combined acceptance network of UnionPay, WeChat Pay and Alipay^[7]; according to ATOR, QR payments are debited directly from the linked card at the moment of payment^[11].

What is known for holders of Russian cards:

• On 20 February 2026 RSHB announced that holders of its UnionPay cards could pay in China by scanning WeChat Pay, Alipay and UnionPay QR codes through Nihao China; registration requires the phone number linked to the card^[8]. In its April announcement the bank adds that holders of Russian UnionPay cards have had this option "since the end of last year"^[9].
• On 22 April 2026 RSHB announced that the app was now available in Russian and that users could register with Apple and Google accounts^[9]. According to Xinhua, as of September 2026 the app supports 27 languages, including Russian^[10].
• The Association of Tour Operators of Russia (January 2026) says RSHB and ATB cards can be linked to the app, the app itself charges no fee, and online taxi orders could not be paid through it at the time^[11]. According to Xinhua, as of September 2026 taxi booking and train and air ticket purchases are built into the app^[10]; we have not checked whether these features work with Russian cards. Center-invest says its card can also be added to Nihao China^[5].
• In Heilongjiang, the Heihe free trade zone together with the local People's Bank of China branch promotes exactly this route for Russians: registration with a foreign email address, phone number or Apple ID, and linking a foreign UnionPay card without Chinese identity verification^[2].

What we don't know: we found no single published per-payment limit for Nihao China — in practice your card's limits apply. If you plan to pay a hospital this way, ask your bank for the card's daily limit before the trip.

Install the app and link the card at home: linking temporarily holds 1 yuan on the card, so the account must have money in it^[11]. For mobile data and Chinese apps in general, see our guide to apps and connectivity.

QR payments in a Russian bank's app

There is also an option without a UnionPay card: paying by QR code directly in a Russian bank's app. VTB's website lists China among the countries where this works (together with Tajikistan, Vietnam and Egypt) and asks customers to check the current list of countries with the bank's support line^[35]. According to the bank^[35]:

• the payment is debited from a rouble account at VTB at the partner's conversion rate; the rate is shown before you confirm, and the customer pays no fee;
• limits are RUB 350,000 per transaction and per day and RUB 500,000 per month;
• refunds are not provided for these payments: if a merchant approves a refund, the money is returned in cash in the local currency.

The last point matters for a hospital: if you pay a deposit this way, under the bank's rules the unused balance will not come back to your account in Russia — only as cash yuan from the hospital itself, if it agrees. So this method suits day-to-day costs better than a deposit. Sberbank's page on QR payments abroad does not list China among its countries^[36]. Check the service with your own bank before the trip and keep a backup way to pay.

Alipay and WeChat Pay with a Russian card

On paper, both platforms accept UnionPay cards issued outside mainland China: UnionPay International announced this in November 2024^[12], and WeChat Pay's help pages explicitly list UnionPay International cards issued by banks outside the mainland^[13]. However, the Shanghai government warns that whether a card can be linked depends on the card network and the issuing bank^[14]. Among Russian banks, we found official confirmation only from Center-invest (Alipay)^[5]; for Ingo Bank this is reported by Business FM^[6]. In January 2026 ATOR wrote that of Russian cards only ATB's UnionPay card links to WeChat Pay, and that linking ATB cards to Alipay was "essentially not yet working"^[11]. If your card comes from another bank, test linking with a small payment before the trip and don't build your plan on it.

If the card does link, keep in mind WeChat Pay's rules for international cards^[13]:

• purchases only — transfers, red packets, balance top-ups and withdrawals are not available;
• a 3% fee on payments over RMB 200; payments of RMB 200 or less are fee-free;
• after full passport verification, up to RMB 35,000 per transaction and per day and up to RMB 350,000 per year; limits change with risk assessment and cannot be raised on request.

The Shanghai government gives a different ceiling for international cards in Alipay and WeChat Pay — USD 5,000 per transaction and USD 50,000 per year^[14]. The payment screen always has the final word. In 2024 UnionPay announced that paying with its cards through Alipay and Weixin would carry no service fee "as initial promotion"^[12]; we could not confirm whether this still applies — WeChat Pay's manual of 12 June 2026 lists no exemption for UnionPay cards from the 3% fee^[13].

Cash yuan: what the law guarantees and how much you can bring

Since 1 February 2026, the Provisions on RMB Cash Receipts, Payments and Services, issued by the People's Bank of China together with the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, have been in force^[17]. They apply to government bodies, public institutions (事业单位), organisations that charge for public services, and businesses. What matters for a patient:

• where payment is taken by a staffed cashier or a service is provided face to face, cash must be accepted (Art. 4)^[17];
• where payment is by self-service machines, the organisation must offer a way to pay cash in special situations — for example, when mobile payment or the network is down — and post it prominently (Art. 5)^[17];
• if cash is refused, you can keep evidence and complain to the local People's Bank of China branch (Art. 15)^[17].

Hospital websites also list cash: at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, cash can be paid into an inpatient's account^[31], and Peking University International Hospital accepts cash yuan but asks to be told in advance about large amounts^[30].

The weak point of cash is the border limits:

The conclusion is simple: you can bring cash yuan only up to RMB 20,000 per person. For an operation or a long course of treatment that is usually not enough, and cash dollars and euros are hard to get in Russia: the Bank of Russia is keeping restrictions on foreign cash withdrawals until 9 March 2027, explaining them by sanctions that bar Russian banks from buying Western countries' cash currency^[23]. So cash is a reserve for daily costs and for when a card fails, not a way to pay a large bill.

Cash roubles in China: an official exchange regime exists, for example, in the border city of Suifenhe — under a 2014 notice of the Heilongjiang branch of China's foreign exchange administration, authorised banks and licensed exchange points exchange roubles for individuals under the current foreign exchange rules^[24]. We found no national list of places where cash roubles can be exchanged.

Bank transfer to the hospital

On the Russian side there are fewer restrictions than people often assume. The Bank of Russia states that resident individuals may transfer funds abroad without limits, and that medical services abroad can be paid for by transfer to the account of the foreign organisation providing them; transfers by bank details are available at a number of banks that are not under sanctions^[25].

The difficulties are on the receiving side. In 2024 Reuters reported that China's big banks were throttling Russia-related payments out of concern over US sanctions^[26]. The US Treasury lists medicine among permissible categories of transactions^[27], but the decision on any specific payment rests with the bank's compliance team, and timing cannot be predicted.

Hospitals that accept transfers describe the process as follows: Peking University International Hospital issues an official invoice and accepts international wire transfers with a SWIFT code^[30]; Peking University Cancer Hospital asks that transfers carry the patient's name and the note "住院费" ("inpatient fee") and be sent at least 2 days in advance^[32]; the page gives an account at Bank of Beijing and does not say whether transfers from abroad are accepted.

How to reduce the risk:

1. Ask the hospital's international department for an official invoice and bank details in writing, through the contacts on its official website. Ask whether the hospital accepts transfers from Russia and in which currency. Our inquiry letter generator can help you write the request in Chinese and English.
2. State the real purpose of the payment — treatment of a named patient. Do not use intermediaries who offer to hide the purpose of a payment: the US Treasury explicitly names obfuscating the true purpose of payments as a way of helping evade sanctions^[27].
3. Send the transfer early and ask the hospital to confirm receipt before you fly.
4. Ask how any unused deposit will be refunded and how long that may take.

Deposits and prepayment: what to expect

We found no national standard for deposit amounts — each hospital sets its own rules. Examples from official hospital websites:

• Peking University International Hospital: after the consultation you receive a written cost estimate; self-pay patients are asked to prepay the full estimated amount, and after treatment there is a final settlement and the balance is refunded via the original payment method or one the patient specifies^[30].
• First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University: a prepayment is required on admission, a daily cost statement is issued, and if the balance runs low you need to top it up promptly so treatment is not interrupted^[31].
• Peking University Cancer Hospital: deposits are accepted via the hospital app, WeChat and Alipay, bank card (the hospital recommends a yuan card with the UnionPay logo), cash, cheque or bank transfer^[32].

For a Russian cardholder, the key is to compare the expected deposit with your limits in advance: your card's daily limit (ATB's cash withdrawal limit, for example, is CNY 45,000 per day^[4]), wallet limits (WeChat Pay: up to RMB 35,000 per transaction after verification^[13]) and the cash entry limit (RMB 20,000 per person^[18]). If the deposit is larger, plan a transfer in advance or payment in parts by different methods, and agree this with the hospital before admission. For the admission process itself, see our guide to hospital admission and inpatient stays in China, and for how departments differ, our explainer on international departments.

Sanctions risks: what is known as of November 2026

• In December 2023, US Executive Order 14114 allowed sanctions on foreign banks for transactions involving Russia's military-industrial base; since June 2024 the US Treasury counts all persons blocked under Executive Order 14024 as part of that base and warns foreign banks of sanctions risk unless they are solely facilitating permissible transactions — food, agriculture, medicine, energy and telecommunications^[27].
• On 21 November 2024 the United States imposed blocking sanctions on Gazprombank^[28]. According to the bank's notice quoted by RBC, from the same day its cards were disconnected from the UnionPay network and withdrawals and purchases became unavailable^[29]. The main lesson: a card that works today can stop working within a day if sanctions hit its issuer.
• According to Business FM (August 2026), RSHB was included in another sanctions package, while the bank stated that all its UnionPay cards were operating normally^[6].
• Payment difficulties are acknowledged in China too, though without reference to sanctions: in 2026 the president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University named cross-border payment as one of four institutional barriers to cross-border medical services^[34].

We do not give legal assessments of sanctions regimes. If the amount is large, discuss the payment route with your bank before committing to treatment.

Where it is already easier for Russians

There is good news too. In Heilongjiang, more than 40 medical institutions that serve Russian patients have put their wayfinding, department signs and price notices into Russian; in the first half of 2026 the province recorded more than 16,300 visits by patients from Russia^[33]. The same report says POS terminals in key border cities and provincial hospitals have been upgraded to accept foreign cards and mobile payments^[33] — but the examples given are Visa and Mastercard, and Russian-issued cards on those networks do not work abroad, so for Russians the workable routes remain UnionPay, QR payments and cash. If you are choosing between cities, see the pages for Harbin and the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, and for treatment in the south, Sanya and the Sanya Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. For the treatments themselves, see traditional Chinese medicine therapies and the TCM specialty; for session prices and choosing a clinic, see TCM in China for Russians.

A working setup: what to bring

Pre-departure checklist

• Get a UnionPay card well in advance, fund it, and ask the bank about daily limits, withdrawal fees and the 6-digit PIN rule.
• Install Nihao China, link the card and check the test hold.
• Ask the hospital for a written cost estimate, accepted deposit methods and bank details; if paying by transfer, send it early and get confirmation.
• Count your cash: no more than RMB 20,000 in yuan per person, and no more than the equivalent of USD 10,000 in all foreign currency when leaving Russia.
• Keep a second, independent way to pay in case the card is cut off or a terminal rejects it.
• Keep every receipt and itemised bill for your insurer — see our guide to insurance for treatment abroad.

Next steps

• Entry rules are in our guide to visas and entry to China; for the overall budget, see costs and price comparison.
• A first visit without a Chinese ID is covered in our guide to the first hospital visit.
• Planning treatment in Hainan? Read Sanya or Boao, and which visa-free rule applies and about the Boao Lecheng pilot zone.
• The AI planner can build a day-by-day trip plan with reminders about payments and deposits.