The embassy of China in Bangladesh has launched a ‘Green Channel’ to ease medical treatment visas for Bangladeshis intending to visit China.
‘To implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of China and Bangladesh during the visit of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus to China in March, further enhance cooperation in public health and facilitate personnel exchanges between the two countries, the Embassy of China in Bangladesh has introduced special facilitation measures for medical treatment visas to China,’ said the Chinese embassy in Dhaka in a notice on Sunday.
Local Bangladeshi travel agencies with valid business licences may issue guarantee letters for travellers seeking medical treatment in China regarding bank deposit certificates and proof of kinship, exempting them from obtaining the certificates authenticated by the Bangladeshi ministry of foreign affairs, which it mentioned as ‘simplified documentation requirements’.
The notice said that the embassy and the Visa Application Service Center (3rd Floor, Praasad Trade Center, 6 Kemal Ataturk Avenue, Banani, Dhaka) have established dedicated hotlines (Embassy: 02222260103, 01708464809; Visa Center: 02226603261) and a WhatsApp service group (01885041364) for medical visa inquiries. 
Online applications will be prioritised and reviewed immediately upon submission. A dedicated counter for medical visas has been set up at the Visa Center, allowing applicants to submit materials on arrival without waiting, it mentioned. 
A green channel is available for urgent medical cases, with visas issued on the same day.
Medical visa applicants with scheduled appointments would be granted queue-free priority interviews.
Where in-person attendance is medically inadvisable, a travel agency’s guarantee letter may authorise remote interview proceedings, the notice said about the ‘streamlined interview process’.
Chinese medical institutions possess extensive diagnostic and treatment experience for international patients.
‘More Bangladeshi citizens are welcome to visit China for health check-ups, rehabilitation, and medical care,’ the notice said.
It also said that the Chinese embassy imposed no restrictions on which Chinese hospitals that the Bangladeshi travel agencies could forge partnerships with, nor on which licensed travel agencies to assist applicants with the documentation for Chinese visas.
China has already offered health care services to Bangladeshis and designated four hospitals in Kunming under the Yunnan province at a time when India, a major destination of Bangladeshi patients seeking overseas medical services, has generally suspended visas for Bangladeshis following the fall of the authoritarian regime of Sheikh Hasina amid a students-led mass uprising in August last year.
