Liu Xiaojing, 33, from Shandong province, who worked as a registered nurse in Singapore for 18 months from 2010, says she was impressed by the city state's strict working rules for nurses.

At the KK Women's and Children's Hospital, where she worked, Liu was once harshly criticized after she gave a patient pills two hours before the time stated.

"Such cases are easily ignored in China's hospitals, where giving pills earlier or later doesn't matter too much," she said.