In the first half of 2025, China’s total export volume of medical devices reached 179.333 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.55%, and the trend of trade surplus continued to expand.

Trend of total export volume: continuous recovery, optimistic expectations for the second half of the year

In the first half of 2025, China’s medical device exports continued their growth momentum, showing strong resilience and vitality. According to the statistics from the High-end Medical Device Hospital Data Center, the total export volume in the first half of the year reached 179.333 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.55%. Looking at historical data, this achievement not only represents a significant improvement compared to the same periods in 2023 and 2024, but also marks a breakthrough amid the complex environment of the China-US tariff war, laying a solid foundation for the annual export performance.

Looking at the data from the past three years, China’s medical device exports have gone through a process from adjustment to recovery. The total export volume in 2023 decreased compared with that in 2022, while it entered a recovery channel starting from 2024, and the growth in the first half of 2025 has continued this positive momentum. It is worth noting that the second half of the year is usually a peak season for exports, and historical data shows that its growth rate is generally higher than that of the first half of the year. Given the contrarian growth in the first half of 2025, the industry has positive expectations for a further expansion of export scale in the second half of the year.

Export pattern of product categories: Exports of various categories show differentiated performance

Medical consumables:

It has ranked first with an export value of 86.823 billion yuan, accounting for 48.41% of the total export value. Its proportion has remained stable between 47% and 49% in the past three years, making it the core category of China’s medical device exports. In terms of growth trends, its export volume has continued to rise from 74.804 billion yuan in the first half of 2023, demonstrating steady growth resilience.

Diagnostic and treatment equipment:

The export value was 49.574 billion yuan, accounting for 27.64%, ranking second, and it has maintained year-on-year growth, making it an important supporting category for exports.

IVD instruments:

It has become one of the fastest-growing categories, with export value increasing from 9.73 billion yuan in the first half of 2023 to 13.893 billion yuan in the first half of 2025, and its proportion in total exports rising from 6.27% to 7.75%.

In vitro diagnostic reagents:

The export volume fluctuated significantly. In 2023, due to the decrease in demand in the post-pandemic era, it dropped sharply year-on-year. After 2023, its proportion stabilized between 4.5% and 5.2%.

Other instruments:

The overall export volume is consistent with the general market trend. It is usually higher in the second half of the year than in the first half, accounting for a stable proportion of 11% – 13.5%. However, in the first half of 2025, it decreased slightly year-on-year, and the growth momentum needs to be enhanced.

The top three countries in terms of export volume

In the first half of 2025, the top three countries for China’s medical device exports were the United States (37.618 billion yuan, accounting for 20.98%), Japan (10.451 billion yuan, accounting for 5.83%), and Germany (9.649 billion yuan, accounting for 5.38%). Among them, the export volume to the United States decreased by 2.64% year-on-year, which is speculated to be directly related to the China-US tariff war.

Countries with prominent growth and decline

Growth leadership: Canada, Russia, and Saudi Arabia have become the countries with the fastest year-on-year growth, among which Canada’s growth rate has reached 34.66%, Russia 26.26%, and Saudi Arabia 24.19%, reflecting the potential of emerging markets.

Significant decline: Singapore’s export volume dropped by 7.94% year-on-year, the largest decrease; Malaysia and Australia followed closely, with declines of 3.49% and 3.01% respectively.

Trade methods and provincial distribution: stable structure and high regional concentration

Trade mode

General Trade:
General Trade: It occupies a dominant position. In the first half of 2025, the export value was 129.336 billion yuan, accounting for 72.12%. Moreover, its proportion has continued to rise slightly over the past three years, reflecting the independence and competitiveness of China’s medical device exports.

Processing trade with imported materials:
As a secondary method, it accounted for 16.76% in the first half of 2025. Its model of “importing raw materials – processing domestically – exporting finished products” reflects China’s production advantages in the global industrial chain.

Province export pattern:

The top three provinces: Guangdong Province (43.113 billion yuan, accounting for 24.04%), Jiangsu Province (31.774 billion yuan, accounting for 17.72%), Zhejiang Province (26.619 billion yuan, accounting for 14.84%). The proportion structure of the three provinces is stable, with year-on-year growth all remaining between 8% and 10%, showing a steady performance.

Provinces with prominent growth and decline: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (692.48%), Gansu Province (121.14%), and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (60.88%) led in year-on-year growth rates; Qinghai Province (-39.96%), Shanxi Province (-29.06%), and Yunnan Province (-24.12%) saw significant declines.

Balance of Imports and Exports and Subdivided Products: The trade surplus has expanded, and the growth of technology-based products is prominent

Import-export balance:

In the first half of 2025, the total import value of medical devices in China was 167.793 billion yuan, and the import-export balance was -11.540 billion yuan (imports were less than exports).Looking at the trend, since 2023, the trade deficit has continued to narrow, and the trade surplus has gradually expanded.

Performance of Subdivided Products

Medical imaging field:

The performance of endoscopes is outstanding. In the first half of 2025, the export value reached 1.984 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 33.23%, making it the fastest-growing segmented product. However, “other medical, surgical or veterinary X-ray application equipment” saw a year-on-year decrease of 14.56%, with a significant drop.

It can be seen from this that the export performance of different medical imaging products varies greatly. For example, the export volume of endoscopes has continued to grow in all time periods, and the year-on-year growth rate is the highest among all sub-categories. Emerging categories or those with rapid technological iterations, represented by endoscopes, have shown significant export growth, which reflects that technological upgrading in the medical imaging field has driven exports. Products with high added value and advanced technology are more favored by the international market. However, the export volume of B-ultrasound has been showing a year-on-year continuous decline since the second half of 2023. By the first half of 2025, the export volume reached 317 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.95%.

As the category with the highest proportion of export value, medical consumables are still dominated by low-value consumables in exports. Among them, “other oral cleansers (including denture adhesives and powders)”, “vulcanized rubber fingerless/connected gloves”, and “other artificial human body parts” have led in year-on-year growth, reflecting structural opportunities in segmented markets.
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Source: High-end Medical Device Institute Data Center

Translated & edited：Bradyknown