中國人成韓國醫療旅遊市場最大客戶

The Chinese overtook Americans as the biggest group of medical tourists to South Korea in 2012 for the first time since the Korean government started compiling the data.

自韓國開始統計相關數據以來，中國遊客2012年首次超越美國遊客成爲韓國醫療旅遊市場的最大消費羣體。

In 2012, 32,503 Chinese tourists came to South Korea for medical services, says a recent report by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. That represents 20.4% of all medical tourists.

韓國健康產業發展研究所(Korea Health Industry Development Institute, 簡稱KHID)近期發佈報告稱，2012年到韓國尋求醫療服務的中國遊客共計32,503人次，佔全部醫療遊客的20.4%。

Americans made up 19.2%, with 30,582 visitors in 2012, the institute said. Japan, Russia and Mongolia followed with a weight of 12.4%, 10.3%, and 5.3%, respectively.

該機構稱，2012年來韓醫療遊客中美國人所佔比率爲19.2%（30,582人次）。緊隨其後的是日本，俄羅斯和蒙古，分別爲12.4%，10.3%和5.3%。

South Korea has been trying to find new growth engines in the service sector so it relies less on manufacturers like Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor.

韓國一直試圖在服務行業尋求新的增長點，由此減少對三星電子(Samsung Electronics)和現代汽車(Hyundai Motor)等製造商的依賴。

Since the government changed laws to allow local hospitals to lure medical tourists from early 2009, large hospitals and cities have been actively trying to get more foreign patients.

2009年初韓國政府修改法律，允許當地醫院招攬醫療遊客，之後大型醫院和城市一直積極嘗試吸引更多海外患者。

Busan Metropolitan City plans to attract 30,000 foreign medical tourists this year and 200,000 by 2020, a sharp increase from 14,000 in 2012. The harbor city says it aims to become one of Asia's three largest medical tourism spots by 2020. Other such hotspots include India, Thailand and Singapore.

釜山市計劃今年招攬海外醫療遊客30,000人次，2020年希望達到200,000人次。2012年這一數字僅爲14,000人次。釜山市表示，該市的目標是2020年成爲亞洲三大醫療旅遊目的地之一。其他類似熱門地區包括印度、泰國和新加坡。

South Korea is well positioned to absorb rising demand for better health care and plastic surgery by China's growing middle class and Japanese looking for cheaper services.

隨着中國中產階級羣體的不斷壯大，以及日本人尋求較便宜的服務，更好的醫療保健和整形手術方面的需求不斷上升，這有利於韓國吸引更多醫療遊客。

According to the KHID's report, cosmetic surgery topped all other medical services in terms of growth rate. The number of foreign tourists who got plastic surgery in South Korea jumped from 2,851 in 2009 to 15,898 in 2012, representing an average annual growth rate of 77.3%.

根據KHID的報告，整容手術增長率在所有醫療服務項目中遙遙領先。2012年在韓國進行整容手術的海外遊客由2009年的2,851人次猛升至15,898人次，平均年增長率達到77.3%。

The number of medical tourists grew from 60,201 from 141 countries in 2009 to 159,464 from 188 countries in 2012 -- an average annual growth of 38.4% during the period. Income from medical services for foreigners rose from $51.3 million to $251 million in that period.

2012年韓國的醫療遊客共計159,464人次，分別來自188個國家；2009年爲60,201人次，來自141個國家；2009-2012年間平均年增長率爲38.4%。這期間爲海外遊客提供醫療服務獲得的收入由5,130萬美元上升至2.51億美元。

In 2012, 9,457 Americans came to South Korea to get treatment from physicians, and 9,833 Chinese visited plastic surgery doctors, representing around 62% of foreign patients using plastic surgery services, the report said.

報告表示，2012年到韓國接受治療的美國遊客爲9,457人次，尋訪整形科醫生的中國遊客爲9,833人次，佔獲得整形手術的海外患者的62%左右。

Korea forecasts it will have one million inbound patients in 2020, accounting for $4.2 billion in medical-service income, according to the report.

報告稱，韓國政府預測到2020年將有100萬人次醫療遊客，醫療服務收入將達到42億美元。