China’s medical-device makers look overseas for exports to cure to ailments at home

Chinese medical-device makers are expanding into overseas markets with increasingly high-end products, driven by price advantages and a fierce domestic market, although risks from tariffs may cloud their prospects.

Customs data showed that in the growing sector of China’s medical product exports, high-end devices, such as surgical robots and artificial joints, are gradually gaining share from lower-end products, including syringes, needles and gauze.

Exports of devices in class III – the highest-risk and most strictly regulated category – reached US$3.9 billion in the first seven months of the year, representing 32.37 per cent of the total, up from 28.6 per cent in 2018.

Meanwhile, exports within the low-risk class I medical device category, which includes syringes, needles and gauze, made up 25.27 per cent of the total export share from January to July, down from 30.55 per cent in 2018.

Overall, China shipped US$12.1 billion worth of medical devices across 49 items in the first seven months of the year, representing an increase of 2.36 per cent year on year.

Much like China’s new energy firms, medical device manufacturers are increasingly seeking growth abroad due to their affordable prices and intense competition at home.