'10 times cheaper'

Lower cost, shorter waits drawing more in Hong Kong to seek healthcare on mainland

- Joyce ZK Lim China Correspondent and Magdalene Fung Hong Kong Correspondent

SHENZHEN/HONG KONG - The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen has fast become to Hong Kong residents what Johor Bahru is to many Singaporeans: a haven for wallet-friendly shopping, dining and recreation.

But it is not just malls and eateries that Hong Kongers are frequenting. A growing number are "heading north" to the tech hub for healthcare services ranging from dental and health screening, to specialist treatments and even surgical procedures.

One of them is data analyst Anthea Chor, 44, who since mid-2023 has had routine check-ups at both public and private healthcare facilities in Shenzhen, and takes her retired parents there for medical treatment as well.

Healthcare costs in Shenzhen, she says, are as much as "10 times cheaper" than in Hong Kong.

"Nowadays, a lot of my friends' parents see doctors in Shenzhen, and don't do so in Hong Kong anymore," she told The Sunday Times.

The number of Hong Kongers "heading north" for medical treatment has been on the rise in 2024, especially after borders reopened in early 2023 following the Covid-19 pandemic, said Dr Gong Peng, executive dean at Shenzhen University General Hospital.

The public hospital received more than 3,000 patient visits from residents of Hong Kong and Macau in the first three quarters of 2024 - 1½ to two times more than during the same period in 2022 or 2023, he told ST.

Separately, the Shenzhen New Frontier United Family Hospital, a Hong Kong-funded private entity, has also seen its patient pool from the city grow since mid-2023, Caixin reported in June.

Driving this trend are the long waits in Hong Kong for affordable public healthcare for non-urgent conditions and the high costs of private alternatives for those not covered by insurance.