What is an international department in a Chinese hospital?
A separate clinic inside a major public hospital that serves foreign and private-pay patients: English-speaking staff, longer appointment slots, quieter waiting areas, and help with insurance paperwork — while drawing on the same senior physicians and equipment as the main hospital. The trade-off is price: consultations typically cost three to five times the regular-department rate (for example ¥600–1,200 at PUMCH versus ¥50–100 in its regular clinics), and care is self-pay or private insurance only, since China's public insurance does not cover foreign visitors.