Guide

MRI in China without a referral: who orders the scan

Rules checked 26 October 2026 (Taipei time)

You can get an MRI in China without a referral from your home doctor, but not without a doctor: in a Chinese hospital, a doctor who sees you orders the scan, and the scan follows that order.

• National rule: medical staff order exams according to the patient's condition (2022 mutual-recognition measures, article 18).
• Peking Union Medical College Hospital says it books an MRI "based on the clinician's request".
• No national text we read allows or forbids booking an MRI yourself.
• A self-pay health check-up with MRI as an add-on is another route; PUMCH's 2023 basic package started at ¥18,000 (about $2,680).

What the rules say

The national measures on mutual recognition of examination results, issued in February 2022 by the National Health Commission and other bodies, state in article 18 that medical staff issue exam orders according to the patient's condition. Article 20 lets qualified hospitals open exam clinics that issue diagnostic reports on their own. Neither article mentions foreign patients, and neither sets out a right to a scan on request.

Hospitals describe the same practice. The MRI notice of Peking Union Medical College Hospital's International Medical Services (IMS) says that, based on the clinician's request, staff will book the MRI promptly and accompany the patient. In other words, you see a doctor first.

Three ways to get the scan

1. Ordinary outpatient service. Book a specialist appointment (orthopaedics for a knee, neurology for headaches) with your passport number, see the doctor, pay for the scan, then get a scan time. Cheapest, at the official price caps, but mostly in Chinese.
2. International or VIP department. Same steps, with English-speaking staff and higher prices that the caps do not cover. PUMCH IMS says its prices are above ordinary care and not covered by basic medical insurance, and that it cannot promise all exams within 24 hours for inpatients.
3. Self-pay health check-up. Some hospitals sell MRI as an optional add-on to a check-up package. PUMCH IMS's 2023 price list started its basic package at ¥18,000 and listed head, spine and abdominal MRI as items charged individually; the list says prices follow Beijing policy and the final price is what is actually charged.

A coordination service can book any of these for you and interpret. It adds a fee; see the package prices on the price table.

Booking as a foreigner

PUMCH says international patients can book online through its official app on the IMS English interface, or have Chinese friends book for them, and gives a foreigner appointment line, 010-69156699 extension 2. Its IMS emergency unit is open 24 hours. In Shanghai, the city government named 13 public hospitals in 2024 as test sites for dedicated international medical departments, including Huashan, Ruijin, Zhongshan, Renji and Xinhua hospitals.

What to bring

• Your passport, which most hospitals use to register you.
• A letter from your own doctor saying what scan is needed and why, ideally with a Chinese translation.
• Earlier reports and images, on a disc or USB drive.
• A list of implants and medicines, and any implant cards.
• A way to pay: see entering China and paying as a visitor.

After the scan, ask for the images as DICOM files: DICOM files and English reports. Back to the China MRI cost overview.