A patient from the Uygur ethnic group undergoes treatment for skin problems at the Xinjiang Hospital of Uygur Traditional Medicine in Urumqi. ZHU YI/CHINA DAILY

"We have the market and the advantages to become a medical center for the wider area, and we are not prepared to compromise the quality of the care we provide. After all, we're talking about people's lives," he said.

To attract a larger number of overseas patients, the hospital has launched websites in Russian and English, and also advertises in Kazak newspapers. However, in recent years Xinjiang has been the target of a number of deadly attacks, which has resulted in China becoming increasingly cautious about issuing entry visas to residents of neighboring countries who intend to visit the region, for fear that terrorists, separatists and extremists may enter the country and foment trouble, or train and assist local people to carry out attacks.

The central government has said religious extremism is the driving force behind the attacks in the predominantly Muslim region.

"I understand that stability comes before everything else in Xinjiang, but I hope the government will ease the visa policies for those who want to come to Xinjiang for medical treatment because it's now a part of the national strategy," Wang, the hospital president, said.

Traditional treatments

Many patients from overseas are attracted by the traditional medicines used by different ethnic groups, which are known to be effective in the treatment of certain maladies.

"Many people from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan come to us for treatment because friends who have visited Xinjiang on business have told them about traditional Uygur medicines, which are good for treating skin problems, such as vitiligo and psoriasis," said Mumbarak Pazula, head of the Uygur International Medical Department at the Xinjiang Hospital of Traditional Uygur Medicine in Urumqi.

Between 2012 and 2014, the hospital received an average of 200 foreign patients, mostly from Central Asian countries, every month. Of the 127 patients who visited the hospital last year, 95 were seeking treatment for skin diseases.

According to Mumbarak, traditional Uygur medicines use herbs to treat tough skin conditions, while most Western medicines that are used to treat the problems contain hormones, which only work for a short while so the condition is likely to recur when patients stop taking them.

"Western medicine has almost given up on treating vitiligo, a condition that causes the skin to lose its pigment, because it's not a life-threatening illness. But the fact is, many patients lose their self-confidence completely because of the white blotches that spread across their skin," she said, speaking in the cozy waiting room of the new department, which was set up in February last year.

Traditional Uygur medicines have been proved to be effective on 98 percent of patients with vitiligo on their hands, the most difficult part of the body to treat, she added.

The Xinjiang Hospital of Traditional Uygur Medicine is next to a large market that attracts traders from all over Central Asia, and the hospital plans to set up a small clinic in the market so foreign businesspeople will learn about the traditional medicines and tell friends and relatives back home.

"We want to built a museum to showcase the rich history of traditional Uygur medicines and encourage tourists to come to the hospital and have a checkup while they are in town," said Yusup Metnur, the hospital president.

The hospital plans to add English and Russian instructions to the packaging of traditional medicines, along with Uygur and Chinese, to internationalize the "brand", he added.