The Ministry of Finance in China on July 10 detailed out the measures that the country has taken against medical devices imported from the EU by way of government procurement projects. The ministry said in a notice on July 6 that when a purchaser happens to buy medical devices with a budget of more than 45 million yuan, which is about $6.2 million, if it is deemed necessary to purchase imported products by going through relevant legal procedures, the participation of EU enterprises, which excludes funded enterprises within China, should be excluded.
It is well to be noted that on July 10, when answering a question pertaining to the budget threshold of 45 million yuan, the ministry went on to say that if a budget reaches 45 million yuan or even more, the measures stipulated within the notice are going to be implemented in spite of whether the procurement happens to involve single-unit purchases of a specific product type, purchases of a specific type related to any sort of bulk buying, or the obtaining of varied kinds of products.
Interestingly, the EU-funded enterprises in China can very well participate in the government procurement projects that involve the purchase of medical devices that exceed a cost of more than 45 million yuan. However, if these products that they provide include medical devices imported from the EU, the value of the medical devices that are imported from the EU should not exceed half of the total contract value, as per the ministry.
The state-owned enterprise procurement in China is not categorised under the government procurement, and this notice does not apply, the ministry added.
Apparently, China’s commerce ministry spokesperson on July 6 had said that the European Commission had introduced measures on June 20, 2025, in order to restrict the Chinese enterprises as well as products from participating in the public procurement of medical devices in the EU, and the barriers continue to grow for the Chinese firms when it comes to public procurement.
The spokesperson added that China had repeatedly expressed, by way of bilateral dialogue, its willingness to go ahead and resolve the differences with the EU through dialogue and also via consultation as well as bilateral government procurement arrangements. However, in spite of the goodwill and sincerity by China, the EU has insisted on taking measures that are restrictive in order to build new protectionist barriers.
Hence, China has no choice but to go ahead and take reciprocal restrictive measures in order to safeguard the legitimate rights as well as interests of the enterprises in China and to maintain a fair competition scenario, said the spokesperson.
