In 2024, the import and export of medical devices in China remained stable with an upward trend
According to data compiled by the China Association of Medical Equipment based on Chinese customs import and export trade, the import and export trade volume of medical devices in China reached 79.126 billion US dollars in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 0.71%. Among them, China’s exports reached 44.016 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.85% (Including the export of products produced in China by foreign-funded enterprises), while imports reached 35.11 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 5.07%. Medical devices have become the fastest-growing sector in China’s overall export of medical products.
Table 1.Statistics of China’s import and export of medical devices in 2024
|
Classification
|
Amount of Imports
(inBillions of US dollars |
Year-on-year
|
Amount of exports
(in Billions of US dollars) |
Year-on-year | Import-Export volume(in Billions of US dollars) | Year-on-year |
| Total
|
351.10 | -5.07% | 440.16 | 5.85% | 791.26 | 0.71% |
| Hospital diagnosis and treatment | 275.75 | -6.82% | 215.42 | 5.21% | 491.16 | -1.90% |
| Disposable consumables | 38.3 | 2.73% | 73.98 | 16.47% | 112.28 | 11.39% |
| Health and rehabilitation products | 17.85 | 5.64% | 98.38 | 2.41% | 116.22 | 2.89% |
| Medical excipients | 4.98 | -8.59% | 31.06 | -2.01% | 36.05 | -2.98% |
| Dental equipment and materials | 14.23 | -0.54% | 21.32 | 7.74% | 35.55 | 4.26% |
Overall export situation
China’s medical device export traditional markets of the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Brazil exports have increased to varying degrees, massage equipment and low-value consumables, equipment products were the main export products. As the largest market for China’s medical device exports, the United States accounts for nearly 25% of total exports, and exports in 2024 increased by 7.75% year-on-year, the main export products are disposable medical consumables (mainly low-value consumables) with obvious industrial advantages in China. Among emerging markets, Chinese companies showed great enthusiasm for the Brazilian market, with exports increasing 19.33% year-on-year to $1.055 billion (Tables 2 and 3).China is already the largest country of origin for products registered in Brazil, with one out of every three new products registered in 2024 coming from China. In addition to the number and scale of product registration, the gold content of Chinese products is also improving, it can be seen that in addition to the low and medium risk level (Class I/ Class II) is increasing, and there are also a large number of products in the high and medium risk level successfully obtained evidence, and “China’s wisdom” is gaining more and more regulatory and market recognition in Brazil.
The year-on-year growth of exports of the “the Belt and Road” countries was higher than the overall growth, reaching 6.46%, and the export volume was US $16.06 billion. Although exports to Russia have decreased year-on-year, Russia has become the country with the fastest growth in medical device exports in recent years, firmly ranking as the fifth largest export market in China. The export of in vitro diagnostic, imaging equipment, and life support products to Russia has significantly increased, and the cooperation between Russia and China in surgical robots, AI products, and high-value consumables is also heating up year by year.
It is worth mentioning that in recent years, Poland has become the fastest-growing market for exports to EU countries, reaching 18.8% in 2024 with an export value of 673 million US dollars (Table 4). 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Poland. In order to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields and at all levels between the two countries, and promote the continuous development of bilateral relations to a higher level, both sides have agreed to formulate and actively implement the Action Plan for Strengthening the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries (2024-2027). The enormous potential of China Poland economic and trade cooperation has also been fully reflected in the data of China Poland medical device trade.
| Table 2. Ranking of Top 10 Export Countries and Regions in 2024 | |||
| Ranking | Export market | Exports ($100 million) | Year-on-year |
| 1 | America | 109.73 | 7.75% |
| 2 | Japan | 25.92 | -4.97% |
| 3 | Germany | 24.94 | 7.10% |
| 4 | Holland | 14.52 | 11.80% |
| 5 | Russia | 14.18 | -2.74% |
| 6 | India | 12.80 | 2.33% |
| 7 | Hong Kong, China | 12.79 | -19.42% |
| 8 | England | 12.44 | 11.41% |
| 9 | Korea | 11.68 | 3.32% |
| 10 | Brazil | 10.55 | 19.33% |
Table 3. Statistics of China’s Top10 medical device exports by 2024
| Ranking | Product Name | Year on Year |
| 1 | Massage apparatus | 2.16% |
| 2 | Other medical, surgical or veterinary instruments and apparatus | 6.78% |
| 3 | Other needles, catheters, tubes and similar products | 9.40% |
| 4 | Other diagnostic or experimental reagents attached to the backing and formulated reagents whether or not attached to the backing. | 13.77% |
| 5 | Glasses and other items not listed for the purpose of correcting vision or protecting the eyes. | -1.23% |
| 6 | Untitled steel sanitary ware, including parts | 0.03% |
| 7 | Split-finger, one-finger and open-finger gloves made of vulcanized rubber for medical, surgical, dental or veterinary use | 35.52%
|
| 8 | Color ultrasonic diagnostic instrument | 3.81% |
| 9 | Gloves made of polyvinyl chloride (split-finger gloves, one-finger gloves, etc.) | 20.14% |
| 10 | Other instruments and devices listed in item 90.27 | 0.99% |
Table 4.Top 10 countries of China’s medical device exports Along the Belt and Road in 2024
| Ranking | Export Market | Export Value
(USD100million) |
Year- over-Year |
| Total | 160.60 | 6.46% | |
| 1 | Russia | 14.18 | -2.74% |
| 2 | Korea | 11.68 | 3.32% |
| 3 | Singapore | 8.60 | 0.27% |
| 4 | Thailand | 7.45 | 3.18% |
| 5 | Malaysia | 7.29 | -4.25% |
| 6 | Vietnam | 7.28 | 5.00% |
| 7 | Italy | 7.14 | 14.50% |
| 8 | Poland | 6.73 | 18.80% |
| 9 | Indonesia | 6.4 | 6.80% |
| 10 | Turkey | 5.32 | 3.27% |
1.The medical device market in the Middle East is booming
In recent years, Chinese medical devices have been welcomed by the Middle East market, and exports have steadily increased. In 2024, exports to 16 countries in the Middle East reached 2.039 billion US dollars, an increase of 13% year-on-year, reaching a record high, and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are the main export markets (Figure 2, Table 5).The annual Arab International Medical Equipment Fair (Arab Health) also reflects the activity and demand potential of the medical market in the region. As the largest exhibition in the Middle East, the exhibits are relatively complete, the exhibition effect is good international professional medical equipment exhibition, has also become one of the most attractive medical equipment exhibition in the world, Chinese exhibitors have increased year by year, the just concluded exhibition, the scale of exhibitors and visitors have reached a record high. A total of more than 4,000 exhibitors from all over the world, of which more than 800 Chinese enterprises concentrated on the appearance, showing the innovation achievements and international layout of China’s medical technology.
Table 5.Statistics of China’s medical device exports to the Middle East in 2024
| Country | Export Value
(USD100million) |
Year on Year |
| Total | 20.39 | 13% |
| United Arab Emirates | 4.64 | 16.95% |
| Saudi Arabia | 4.47 | 12.02% |
| Israel | 2.63 | 15.65% |
| Iraq | 2.09 | 25.61% |
| Egypt | 2.07 | 15.01 |
| Iran | 0.89 | -29.69 |
| Jordan | 0.64 | -6.14% |
| Kuwait | 0.55 | 17.94% |
| Qatar | 0.55 | 63.38% |
| Yemen | 0.55 | 11.33% |
| Lebanon | 0.52 | 16.34% |
| Oman | 0.30 | 27.99% |
| Cyprus | 0.19 | 33.10% |
| Bahrain | 0.11 | 1.04% |
| Palestine | 0.09 | 31.17% |
| Syria | 0.09 | 1.49% |
2. Export growth in the CIS market
The trade of medical devices between China and the CIS countries has maintained a growth trend, but the growth rate has slowed down after the epidemic. In 2024, exports reached 2.155 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 2.67%.It is worth mentioning that the trade of medical devices between China and Belarus has shown significant growth. From 2023 to 2024, both sides have increased cooperation in the medical field. In 2024, China’s exports of medical devices to Belarus exceeded 100 million US dollars for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 26.81% (Figure 3, Table 6).
Last year, the joint communique of the two sides proposed to support the joint production of new medical products and equipment in Belarus, the opening of a representative office of Chinese medical equipment and drug manufacturers, and the joint research on biotechnology. All these have injected strong impetus into the cooperation between the two sides in the field of medical equipment. It is reported that China’s medical equipment products have grown rapidly in exports to Belarus, such as magnetic resonance imaging, low-temperature sterilization, endoscopy, ultrasound, radiotherapy equipment, ophthalmic equipment, surgical robots, and other products have also been recognized.
Table 6. Statistics of China’s medical device exports to CIS countries in 2024
| CIS countries | Export Value
(USD100million) |
Year- over-Year |
| Total | 21.55 | 2.67% |
| Russia | 14.18 | -2.74% |
| KZ(Kazakhstan) | 2.92 | 20.06% |
| Kyrgyzstan | 1.41 | 25.35% |
| UZ (Uzbekistan) | 1.11 | -10.49% |
| Republic of Belarus | 1.02 | 26.81% |
| Tajikistan | 0.31 | -1.42% |
| Azerbaijan | 0.32 | 36.34% |
| Armenia | 0.18 | 13.23% |
| Moldova | 0.10 | 4.63% |
3. Import situation
China’s imports from the United States, Germany, and Japan have declined to varying degrees, mainly because of the accelerated import substitution of high-end medical equipment in China and the continuous investment of multinational companies in localized production in China.In recent years, some countries represented by Mexico, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Costa Rica have become overseas production bases for many multinational companies, and their exports to the world, including China, have grown rapidly (Table 7 and Table 8).
Table 7. Top 10 Countries for Medical Device Imports in China in 2024
| Ranking | Import Market | Import Value (100 million US dollars) | Year-on-Year |
| 1 | America | 83.28 | -8.37% |
| 2 | Germany | 63.53 | -10.67% |
| 3 | Japan | 33.43 | -8.81% |
| 4 | Mexico | 23.02 | 4.08% |
| 5 | Ireland | 15.87 | 4.27% |
| 6 | Switzerland | 14.24 | -5.76% |
| 7 | Britain | 9.61 | -13.58% |
| 8 | Britain | 8.59 | -5.40% |
| 9 | Netherlands | 8.34 | -15.01% |
| 10 | South Korea | 8.23 | -7.47% |
Table 8. Top 10 countries of China’s medical equipment imports along the “the Belt and Road” in 2024
| Import Source Region | Import Value (100 million US dollars) | Year-on-Year |
| Total | 56.78 | 4.78% |
| Singapore | 8.59 | -5.40% |
| South Korea | 8.23 | -7.47% |
| Czech Republic | 7.36 | 61.55% |
| Costa Rica | 7.16 | 9.81% |
| Malaysia | 5.49 | 2。51% |
| Vietnam | 4.22 | 9。48% |
| Thailand | 3.15 | -1.13% |
| Italy | 3.14 | -7.51% |
| Austria | 2.55 | -14.81% |
| Dominican Republic | 1.52 | 20.44% |
China is encouraging China end uses for more domestic products in latest years. Thus, more and more overseas manufacturers are planning localization in China. BradyKnows localization team has extensive experiences in facility establishment, audit, supplier evaluation, manufacturing, registration, and marketing in China. Pls feel free to let us know any questions on China entry via info@bradyknowsmedical.com
Source：China Association of Medical Equipment
Translated & edited： Bradyknown
