Over 600,000 Chinese seek medical treatment overseas last year

Over 600,000 Chinese people sought medical treatment overseas last year, reports Science and Technology Daily. 

Statistics show that 80% of those people were cancer patients. 

Figures released at this year's Cancer Awareness Week show a 5-year survival rate of 30% for patients in China, while it can reach 70%-80% in developed countries. 

While cancer diagnosis in China is still in its primary stage, its cancer treatment is just as good as that in the United States; and Chinese doctors are usually more experienced than their American counterparts, according to Sun Yan with the Chinese Academy of Engineering. 

However Sun does admit that China is lagging behind the United States in drug research and development. 

He Jie with the Academy says whether it's necessary to go abroad for medical treatment depends on the illness. Common cancers such as lung cancer can be treated in China with a comparable prognosis. 

Zheng Shanhai from China's Meitan General Hospital published an article warning Chinese patients about the risks of going abroad for cancer treatment. Most of them seek the help of a third party due to language barriers and the agencies are usually not certified to provide such services.