On Dec. 29, online travel site Ctrip.com released an online medical tourism report, which stated that the number of Chinese overseas "medical tourists" soared in 2016, and that South Korea was the most favored destination among Chinese people for plastic surgery, according to Thepaper.cn.

The report stated that the number of Chinese medical tourists in 2016 was five times greater in 2016 than in the previous year, with an expense of 50,000 RMB ($7,190) per capita. High-quality overseas medical services remain a major attraction for Chinese tourists.

Among all the destinations in the top 10, Japan and South Korea were the most popular with Chinese tourists. A total of 100,000 Chinese tourists went to South Korea for medical procedures in 2016, or one-third of all medical tourists in South Korea that year. Plastic surgery was the most popular service being sought. Some developing countries like India also attracted Chinese tourists, given their high-quality treatments and reasonable prices.

In addition, the report concluded that, based on the Ctrip app and website, the greatest number of overseas medical tourists came from Beijing, followed by Shanghai, Tianjin, Hangzhou and Shenzhen.