NUMBER OF CHINESE SEEKING HEALTH AND MEDICAL SERVICES IN TAIWAN HALVE|兩岸關係冷 陸客來台健檢醫美人數減半

Cross-strait relations are cooling, and with it, the number of Chinese who come to Taiwan for health checks and medical procedures has halved. According to government statistics in 2015, 58,000 Chinese applied for visas for health checks and medical procedures, but in 2016, only 26,000 applied. The medical profession thinks it is a result of politics. This year even fewer Chinese are seeking such procedures in Taiwan, possibly less than 20,000. Taiwan's health check services and quality of medical treatment has a good reputation in Asia. Due to the common language it was popular for Chinese to come to Taiwan for these services. However, since the change in government and the uneasy state of cross- strait relations, the number of Chinese coming to Taiwan fell. ==HUNG TSE-JEN Dep-Dir., Hsin Kuang Hospital== Korea, Japan and Singapore and Hong Kong are all powerful and looking to attract the Chinese consumer, so in this situation of long term consumers so it is inevitable that our numbers will be affected. According to National Immigration Agency statistics, since 2012 when the government opened up visas for health checks and medical and cosmetic procedures, the number of Chinese coming to Taiwan for this purpose, rose from 46,000 to 95,000 the following year and then as the government lowered the limit, it returned to 58,000. However, last year after Tsai Ing-wen came to power, from January to November only 26,000 such visits were recorded, which was less than half of the number for the year before last. ==WU MING-YEN Head, MOHW International Medical Treatment Team== Just in time, it looks as though the Southeast Asian market is rising. From the industry point of view, some of the rise in numbers from Southeast Asia are here specially for medical treatment. The Ministry of Health and Welfare emphasized that, although the number of Chinese coming to Taiwan had dropped, the government's new southbound policy would focus on Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia to expand sources of visitors. They will also further develop cancer treatment services which are more valuable than cosmetic treatment and more useful in positioning Taiwan as an international medical center. TRANSLATED BY：CLARE LEAR 台灣的健檢服務與醫療品質，在亞洲頗富盛名，而且因為語言通，多年來深受陸客喜愛，不過自從政黨輪替、新政府上任後，兩岸關係氣氛差，去年來台健檢醫美的陸客大幅減少。 ==新光醫院副院長 洪子仁== 韓國 日本以及新加坡 香港 也都大力地 在向大陸居民來招手(健檢醫美) 所以當然在這樣 一消一長的情況之下 那難免我們的人數上 一定會受到某一個程度的影響 根據內政部移民署統計，自從101年起、政府開放陸客申請健檢醫美簽證，陸客來台人數從4萬6千多人次，隔年飆升到9萬5千多人次，之後因為政府緊縮相關規定，又下降到5萬8千人次，但去年蔡英文總統上任後，1到11月、只剩下2萬6千人次，不到前年的二分之一。 ==衛福部國際醫療管理小組執行長 吳明彥== 剛好東南亞的部分 好像也補上來了 如果就產值的部分 因為東南亞這段時間來的人 還有那些特別是 疾病治療人的增加 對此衛福部強調，雖然陸客來台人數變少，但政府推動的新南向政策，將朝馬來西亞、越南、印尼等國家擴大客源，並發展癌症等重症治療，這些治療費用比健檢醫美高出好幾倍，更有助於台灣發展成為國際醫療核心地區。 記者 賴淑敏 蔣龍祥 台北報導