Export has become an important promoter of the development of the medical device industry

In the past year, China's medical devices were exported to 216 countries and regions. Asia, Europe, and North America are still the major export markets for medical devices in China. The corresponding export value is 4.893 billion U.S. dollars, 3.915 billion U.S. dollars, and 4.257 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Total medical device exports accounted for 89.13% of the total. Among them, China's exports to the Asian market increased by 13.65% year-on-year. Affected by the "zero tariff" in the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area, China's exports of medical devices to ASEAN increased by a large margin by 47.36% year-on-year. China’s exports of medical devices to the European and North American markets increased by 18.43% and 24.31% respectively year-on-year. China's development of the African medical device market has also achieved good results. In 2010, the relevant export value was US$529 million, an increase of 41.7% year-on-year.

Exporting traditional core markets

The United States, Japan, and Germany are the three major traditional exporters of medical devices in China. The export volume of the three countries accounted for 43.95% of China's total medical device exports in the same period.

In 2010, China’s exports of medical devices to the United States amounted to US$4.057 billion, a year-on-year increase of 24.57%, accounting for 27.6% of China's total medical device exports during the same period. The five major categories of export products are, in order, “glasses and other items for uncorrected vision, eye protection, etc.”, “X-ray contrast agents, diagnostic reagents for patients”, and “other medical, surgical or veterinary instruments”. Appliances, massage equipment, and cotton wool, gauze, and bandages accounted for 23.15% of China's total exports of medical devices to the United States.

In 2010, China’s export of medical devices to the Japanese market was US$1.528 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 11.62%, accounting for 10.4% of China’s medical device exports during the same period. The five main types of Chinese products exported to the Japanese market are: "massage apparatus", "other needles, catheters, cannulae and similar products", "X-ray generators, etc., inspection furniture," "cotton, gauze, and bandages." In addition, the "exports of spectacles, such as uncorrected eyesight and eye protection purposes," have accounted for 40.41% of China's exports of medical devices to Japan during the same period.

In 2010, China’s export of medical devices to the German market was US$875 million, a year-on-year increase of 15.15%, accounting for 5.95% of China’s medical device exports during the same period. The top five categories of Chinese products exported to the German market are: "massage apparatus," "cotton, gauze, bandages," "weight scales (including baby scales, household scales)," "other needles, catheters, intubation, and the like." "Products" and "X-ray generators, inspection furniture," exports of Category 5 products accounted for 28.21% of China's exports of medical devices to Germany.

Cotton wool, gauze, Bandage

In 2010, the export value of China's cotton wool, gauze, and bandages was US$658 million, an increase of 10.07% over the same period of last year. The average export unit price was US$5.8/kg, an increase of 10.51% over the same period of last year; the number of relevant export regions and countries reached 182, and the main export market was the United States. Japan, Germany, Belgium and Italy accounted for 51.12% of the total. Except for Japan and Italy, the related export volume decreased by 2.63% and 4.03% year-on-year, respectively, while exports to other three major markets showed varying degrees of growth. In 2010, a total of 2,340 enterprises across the country operated such products. The top 3 exporters, namely, Robust Industrial (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Shaoxing Zhende Medical Dressing Co., Ltd. and Shenzhen Omeidi Trade Development Co., Ltd., accounted for a total of 21.28%.

Disposable syringe

In 2010, the export volume of disposable syringes in China was US$ 332 million, a year-on-year increase of 20.4%, the average export unit price was US$ 0.04 per stick, an increase of 7.55% year-on-year; the number of exporting countries and regions reached 171, and the main export markets were the United States, Germany, Russia, Brazil and Italy accounted for a combined total of 36.89% of the total. The US market alone accounts for 20.11%. Due to Brazil's anti-dumping duties on disposable syringes produced in China, China's exports of disposable syringes to Brazil dropped by 49.24%, but exports to other four major markets showed varying degrees of growth, especially for Italy. The export volume of syringes increased by 69.7% year-on-year. A total of 842 enterprises across the country operate exports of this type of products. Flextronics Industrial (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., Novo Nordisk (China) Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Kanghua Medical Equipment Co., Ltd. listed the top 3 disposable syringe exporters. 29.65%.

Color ultrasonic diagnostic instrument

In 2010, the export value of China's color ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus was US$274 million, an increase of 37.27% year-on-year. The average export unit price was US$16,700 per unit, an increase of 4.93% year-on-year; the number of relevant export regions and countries was 136, and the main export markets were the United States, The Netherlands, Germany, India and Japan accounted for 53.72% of the total; in addition to the 9.79% decrease in Japan’s exports, China’s exports to other four major markets increased significantly year-on-year, especially for the United States and India. The amount increased by 99.57% and 63.29% respectively year-on-year. A total of 78 companies across the country operate the export of this product. General Electric Medical Systems (China) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Mindray Biomedical Electronics Co., Ltd. and Neusoft Philips Medical Equipment Systems Co., Ltd. swept the top 3 of the export value of this product. 63.92%, occupying more than half of the country.

After years of development, exports have become an important driving force for the development of China's medical device industry. However, it should also be noted that the products with large export volume are still products with low technological content, and 7 out of the top 10 export enterprises are foreign capital and joint ventures. Therefore, enterprises are encouraged to improve their innovation capabilities and optimize exports. Product structure and other issues are still to be broken.