EU targets China medical technology market with launch of new procurement weapon
- First probe launched under international procurement instrument will look into access for European device manufacturers
- Chinese officials have previously lashed out at ‘protectionist acts’ in the name of fair competition
The landmark investigation has been years in the making. The IPI was adopted in June 2022 with the aim of prising open lucrative foreign procurement markets that are closed to EU firms.
A note published in the EU’s official journal said China’s rules favoured local suppliers in its procurement markets.
It pointed to a “buy China” policy, the Made in China 2025 strategy that directs hospitals to procure an increasing level of domestically-made medical devices, and regulations that stipulate that local authorities must procure domestic products.
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It bemoaned the “more stringent rules for the procurement of imported products compared to the procurement of domestic ones”, and accused the government of “imposing conditions in its centralised procurement of medical devices leading to abnormally low bids that cannot be sustained by profit-oriented companies”.