The China Visa Medical Exam, Explained
The mandatory China work-permit health check — the medical exam for a work (Z) visa and residence permit costs about ¥300–600 ($40–85) in most cities, the biggest ones included (Beijing ¥430, Shanghai ¥500–600, Guangzhou about ¥600), and is done at a government International Travel Healthcare Center. It takes 1–2 hours fasting, covers a fixed set of tests — chest X-ray, ECG, ultrasound, and blood work including HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B (HBsAg) — and the stamped health check certificate is ready in about 3–5 working days, valid for six months. Tourists never need it; it applies when you're staying long term.
If you're moving to China on a Z visa (or a long-term study or family stay), you'll complete the Foreigner Physical Examination Record at your city's International Travel Healthcare Center for roughly ¥300–600 (more in Shanghai and Guangzhou). Book ahead, arrive fasting with your passport and two passport photos, and collect the red-cover health certificate a few working days later. It's a compliance screen, not a real checkup — many arrivals pair it with a proper screening the same week.
Who actually needs the visa medical?
There is no medical requirement for visiting China as a tourist — if that's your question, see our guide to visas for a health-checkup trip. The medical exam applies to long-term stays:
| Situation | Medical exam required? |
|---|---|
| Tourist / business visit (L, M, transit) | No |
| Work (Z) visa → residence permit | Yes — standard requirement |
| Long-term study (X1, over 6–12 months) | Usually yes |
| Family reunion / private affairs over 1 year | Often yes |
The exam is required by the exit-entry authorities when you convert your entry visa into a residence permit — typically within 30 days of arrival. Your employer's HR or your university will tell you the exact deadline for your city.
Where do you take it — and what does it cost?
The standard venue is your city's International Travel Healthcare Center (国际旅行卫生保健中心), the customs-affiliated clinic network that exists specifically for entry-exit health checks. Big cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu) each have one or more, and most now take bookings through a WeChat mini-program. As a 2026 planning range the standard exam costs about ¥300–600 ($40–85) — and that band holds in the biggest cities too: Beijing ¥430, Shenzhen ~¥480, Shanghai ≈¥500–600, Guangzhou ≈¥600. The much higher schedules often republished for Shanghai (¥1,446–2,096 by age) and Guangzhou (¥1,100–1,700) are the US immigrant-visa panel fees for a separate exam those two centres also run — not the residence-permit check. Express service, where offered, costs more. We've mapped the two busiest centers in detail: the Shanghai ITHC guide and the Guangzhou ITHC guide cover addresses, booking, documents, and turnaround. Some authorized private international hospitals can also run the exam with fully bilingual service, at a higher price — convenient if you want English end to end, though the government centers are used to foreigners and the process is form-driven.
What the exam includes — every item on the form
The exam items (体检项目) mirror the sections of the Foreigner Physical Examination Record itself, so every centre runs essentially the same stations:
| Station / item | What it covers | Why it's on the form |
|---|---|---|
| Basic measurements | Height, weight, blood pressure, vision | Baseline data on the form's first page |
| Internal medicine (内科) | Heart and lung auscultation, abdomen, medical-history declaration | The physician sign-off section |
| Surface exam (外科) | Skin, lymph nodes, thyroid | The form's surgical section |
| Chest X-ray | Lungs — one frontal film | Tuberculosis screening; the one item that can genuinely hold a file |
| ECG | Resting heart rhythm | Recorded, rarely consequential |
| Abdominal ultrasound | Liver, gallbladder, kidneys, spleen | Recorded findings only |
| Blood draw | HIV antibody, syphilis serology, hepatitis B (HBsAg), liver enzymes (ALT) | The mandated serology set; many centres add anti-HCV to the same draw even though hepatitis C is not named on the form |
A few centres add extras to their own package — a urine test or blood-type record is common in some cities — but nothing beyond the table is required by the form. There is no fitness standard to meet: apart from the narrow bars described below, the items are recorded, not passed or failed.
How to book, and what the day looks like
Most centres now book through a WeChat mini-program — search the centre's Chinese name (e.g. 北京国际旅行卫生保健中心) inside WeChat, pick 外国人体检 / foreigner medical exam, and choose a morning slot. Many centres also take walk-ins before mid-morning, since the exam must be done fasting and the stations close to new arrivals around 10:30–11:00. If WeChat defeats you, your employer's HR has done this dozens of times — booking on an employee's behalf is routine.
The visit itself runs like this:
- Registration — passport, two passport photos, and the fee (WeChat Pay, Alipay, and usually cards are accepted). You're issued the form and a barcode sheet.
- Stations in any order — each takes 5–15 minutes; staff wave you toward whichever queue is shortest. Total time is usually 1–2 hours.
- Done by lunch — you can eat as soon as the blood draw is finished.
- Certificate collection — in about 3–5 working days: in person, by courier (most centres offer SF Express delivery for a small fee), or via your employer. The certificate is valid for six months.
Come fasting (water is fine), and skip metal jewellery for the X-ray.
The 体检表 — Foreigner Physical Examination Form (Record)
The paperwork behind the process is the standardized Physical Examination Record for Foreigner (外国人体格检查记录, commonly just "体检表"). Two routes exist:
- Complete it abroad — a licensed physician in your home country fills the form, attaches lab reports and a photo, and stamps every page. In practice the local center in China often re-verifies foreign forms (and repeats any missing tests), so this route mainly helps people with tight timelines.
- Do it in China after arrival — the route most expats take. It's cheaper than most Western private exams, the center issues the form itself, and there's no verification step.
Requirements do vary slightly by city and employer, so treat this page as planning information and confirm the current checklist with your HR contact or the local center before you go.
What if something comes back abnormal?
This is the question the exam actually raises for most people, and it is also where the internet is most out of date. The screen is not a pass/fail test, and the list of conditions that bar a foreigner from entering China was narrowed sharply in 2010.
On 24 April 2010 the State Council amended the implementing rules of the law on entry and exit of aliens and removed HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy from the conditions barring entry — ending a rule that had stood for two decades and that a great deal of expat advice online still repeats. The remaining restrictions were narrowed at the same time to severe mental disorders and infectious tuberculosis, alongside the general category of other infectious diseases that could seriously endanger public health. China's Exit and Entry Administration Law carries the same formulation.
So the tests and the consequences have come apart, and it is worth being precise about which is which:
| On the form | Status |
|---|---|
| HIV antibody | Tested and recorded. Not a bar to entry since 2010. |
| Syphilis serology | Tested and recorded. Not among the conditions that bar entry. |
| Hepatitis B (HBsAg) | On the visa form. Separately, a joint ministry circular of 10 February 2010 banned hepatitis-B screening in pre-employment and school-enrolment physicals — a different exam from this one. Carrier status is not itself a bar. |
| Chest X-ray | The item with real teeth: it is screening for active, infectious tuberculosis, which remains a bar. |
In practice a flagged item produces a hold, not a refusal. The centre records the finding; the decision belongs to the exit–entry administration reviewing your file, not to the technician at the station. What that usually generates is a request for more evidence — a repeat test, a sputum result, or a specialist letter distinguishing old healed changes on a chest film from active disease. If you have a known, treated condition, bring the documentation with you rather than waiting to be asked for it; assembling it from abroad after the fact is what turns a fortnight into a quarter.
Two things worth flagging before you go, because neither is on any checklist. If you are or might be pregnant, say so before the chest X-ray — tell the centre at registration, not at the machine. And do not conceal a declared condition: an inconsistency between what you declare and what the panel finds is a much worse problem than the finding itself.
Visa medical ≠ health checkup
A common misunderstanding: the visa medical is not a health assessment. It's a fixed compliance screen for infectious disease — it won't assess your cardiac risk, screen for early cancers, or produce results your home doctor can act on. If you're relocating, it's an efficient moment to book a genuine comprehensive checkup in the same week: you're already fasting, already in a major hospital city, and packages run far below Western prices — see the 2026 cost guide and the Shanghai & Beijing package guide. And whatever you book, ask for results in English.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the China visa medical exam cost?
As a 2026 planning range, the standard residence-permit medical exam costs about ¥300–600 (roughly $40–85) at International Travel Healthcare Centers, and the big-city centres sit inside that band: Beijing ¥430, Shenzhen about ¥480, Shanghai about ¥500–600, Guangzhou about ¥600. The far higher schedules often quoted for Shanghai (¥1,446–2,096 by age) and Guangzhou (¥1,100–1,700) belong to the US immigrant-visa panel exam those two centres also host, not to the residence-permit check — ask which exam a quoted figure covers before you pay. Express processing and authorized private international hospitals cost more. Confirm the current fee with your local center.
Who needs a medical exam for a Chinese visa?
Tourists do not need any medical exam. The exam is required when you apply for a residence permit — typically after entering China on a work (Z) visa, and for many long-term study (X1) and family-reunion stays over one year. It is a compliance screening required by the exit-entry authorities, not a health assessment.
What is the Foreigner Physical Examination Record (体检表)?
It is the standardized government form — the Physical Examination Record for Foreigner — that documents your exam results. It can be completed abroad by a licensed physician with photos, stamps, and lab reports attached, but the local International Travel Healthcare Center in China usually re-verifies foreign-completed forms, so most expats simply take the exam in China after arrival.
What tests are included and how long do results take?
The standard set is a basic physical (height, weight, blood pressure, vision), internal-medicine check, chest X-ray, ECG, abdominal ultrasound, and blood tests including HIV, syphilis, and hepatitis B (HBsAg). Hepatitis C is not named on the form itself, though many centres add anti-HCV to the same blood draw. The whole visit takes about 1–2 hours fasting; the stamped health certificate is usually ready in 3–5 working days and is valid for six months.
What exactly are the items on the China visa medical exam?
The items mirror the sections of the Foreigner Physical Examination Record: basic measurements (height, weight, blood pressure, vision), an internal-medicine check, a surface exam covering skin, lymph nodes and thyroid, a chest X-ray, an ECG, an abdominal ultrasound, and a blood draw covering HIV antibody, syphilis serology, hepatitis B (HBsAg) and liver enzymes. Many centres add anti-HCV to the same draw, and some cities include a urine test or blood-type record in their own package, but nothing beyond that set is required by the form.
How do I book the visa medical exam — and can I just walk in?
Most International Travel Healthcare Centers book through their WeChat mini-program — search the centre's Chinese name in WeChat and pick the foreigner medical exam (外国人体检) — and many also accept walk-ins before mid-morning, since the exam is done fasting and stations stop taking new arrivals around 10:30–11:00. Bring your passport, two passport photos, and payment (WeChat Pay, Alipay, and usually cards). Your employer's HR can typically book on your behalf.
Is the visa medical exam the same as a health checkup?
No. The visa medical is a fixed compliance screen — it will not look for early-stage cancer, heart disease risk, or anything beyond the mandated items. Many new arrivals pair the visa medical with a proper comprehensive health checkup in the same week, since they are already fasting and near a major hospital city.
Will a positive HIV test stop me getting a China residence permit?
No. On 24 April 2010 the State Council amended the implementing rules of the law on entry and exit of aliens and removed HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases and leprosy from the conditions barring a foreigner's entry to China. A great deal of expat advice online still repeats the pre-2010 rule. HIV antibody remains on the Foreigner Physical Examination Record and the result is recorded, but it is no longer a bar. The restrictions that remain are narrower: severe mental disorders and infectious tuberculosis, alongside the general category of other infectious diseases that could seriously endanger public health.
What happens if a result on the visa medical is abnormal?
A flagged item normally produces a hold rather than a refusal. The centre records the finding, and the decision belongs to the exit–entry administration reviewing your file rather than to the technician at the station. What it usually generates is a request for further evidence — a repeat test, a sputum result, or a specialist letter distinguishing old healed changes on a chest film from active disease. If you have a known, treated condition, bring that documentation with you rather than assembling it from abroad after the fact. Two things to raise before the exam begins: tell the centre at registration if you are or might be pregnant, before the chest X-ray, and never conceal a declared condition — an inconsistency between your declaration and the panel's findings is a worse problem than the finding.