What's up, doc? Investors knock at China hospitals

But the cure sometimes seems as painful as the disease - even for the rich - as the healthcare system is riddled with crowded hospitals, too much bureaucracy and too few nurses.

That's where private investors see an opportunity, especially with the government showing its willingness to allow foreign investment in the hospital sector.

They have the remedy, they say, for a higher fee.

Image: A woman receives traditional Chinese medical treatment with a walnut on her eye and ignited dry moxa leaves in her ear at a hospital in Jinan, capital of eastern China's Shandong province in this file photo.

Text: Lucy Hornby, Reuters

AP, Reuters Images