Health insurance is strongly recommended for travelling or living in China, although it is not legally required.

If you are visiting IHEP, you can purchase suitable travel insurance from your normal insurance provider, bank or travel agent.

If you are employed at IHEP, you will be provided with basic health insurance as part of your social insurance package. This will allow medical treatment at several designated hospitals in Beijing. If you prefer to invest in private health insurance, it will be more expensive but may give more comprehensive or flexible coverage. You may want to consider a policy that covers emergency medical evacuation, or that includes the services of International SOS (ISOS). This is a company which provides 24/7 emergency coverage, with approved hospitals in various cities in China and emergency medical evacuation if needed.

If you do not have medical insurance, you can pay for treatment yourself at the hospital or clinic, but this could be very expensive for anything but minor treatment. You need to pay upfront for treatment in China, so without insurance you may be required to pay a large sum of money before any treatment is given.