Statistics and analysis of medical device development in China up to 2020

At present, the market size of China’s medical device industry has reached 730 billion yuan, and will maintain a 20% growth rate.

The per capita consumption ratio of medical devices and drugs was only 0.35:1, far lower than the global average of 0.7:1 and even lower than the developed countries in Europe and the United States, which is 0.98:1.

By the end of 2020, the scale of China’s medical device market is about 734.1 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 18.3%, nearly 4 times that of the global medical device growth rate, maintaining a relatively high growth level.China has become the world’s second largest market for medical devices after the United States.It is estimated that in the next five years, the average annual compound growth rate of the market size in the device field will be about 14%, and it will exceed one trillion yuan in 2023.In terms of the comparison between the market size of medical devices and the market size of drugs, the global market size of medical devices is about 33% of the global market size of drugs, and the proportion in China is only 12%.

By the end of December 2020, the number of medical device manufacturers in China had reached 30,047, an increase of 66.24% compared with the end of 2019, according to statistics from Fistone Creation Data Platform.

In terms of the product structure of China’s medical device market, imaging diagnostic equipment occupies the largest market share; The second is in vitro diagnosis, accounting for 14% of the market share; Low value consumables accounted for 13% of the market share; The remaining market share is occupied by cardiovascular, orthopedic and other devices.

With the development of China’s medical device industry, several medical device industry agglomeration zones and manufacturing development belts have been formed in China. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Bohai Bay have become the medical device industry agglomeration zones in China.According to incomplete statistics, the total output value and total sales of medical devices in the three regions account for more than 80% of the national total.

I.Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Shenzhen) : characterized by high technology

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with Shenzhen as the center, has obvious advantages in the research and production of comprehensive high-tech medical instruments. Its main products include medical imaging equipment such as monitors, ultrasound diagnostic instruments and magnetic resonance instruments, as well as large-scale stereotactic radiotherapy equipment such as gamma knife and X-knife, and tumor hyperthermia equipment.Among them, the total output value of Shenzhen Medical Device Industrial Zone increases by more than 30% per year, and the export trade develops rapidly.

Compared with other regions, the advantage of Shenzhen’s medical device industry lies in its industrial base accumulated over many years in the fields of electronics, computers, communications and mechatronics.

Shenzhen now has more than 600 medical device manufacturing enterprises, more than 1,500 medical device business enterprises, the annual output value of more than 24 billion yuan, the product export ratio of more than 60%, become one of the most important medical device industry clusters in China.

ii.Bohai Rim Region (Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei) : Diagnosis and treatment industry cluster is attracting attention

The Bohai Rim area is mainly centered on Beijing, including Hebei Province and Tianjin City.

In the 21st century, an enterprise group covering digital X-ray equipment (DR), magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI), digital ultrasound equipment, medical accelerator, navigation and positioning equipment, respiratory anesthesia machine, orthopedic equipment, cardiovascular equipment and other products is taking shape in Tianjin, Liaoning and Shandong.

In the Bohai Bay area, except for some imported large enterprises, the enterprises in the area can be generally divided into two categories:

One category is the large enterprises with the background of state-owned enterprises, which have certain industrial foundation, technological accumulation, scale advantage, large production equipment and factories, etc., and it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to compete with them.

However, because the state-owned enterprises are restricted by the system and mechanism, the innovation power of enterprises is not as good as that of private SMEs.

The other category is small and medium-sized innovative enterprises, which can usually seize the opportunity brought by the technological upgrading and make outstanding achievements in the field of digital medical equipment with the help of government policy support and their own scientific and technological capabilities.However, it is not easy to convert technological advantages into product advantages or brand advantages. Affected by a variety of factors, enterprises that rely on technological advantages to enter the field of medical devices are facing severe challenges on how to achieve sustainable development.

A prominent feature of medical device industry around Bohai Bay is the outward diffusion of research and development results based on Beijing.

Due to the high production cost in Beijing, many technological achievements have been transferred to other regions, especially to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta.Tsinghua University, Peking University and Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics have respectively set up branches in Shenzhen, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences has also set up research institutes of medical devices in Shenzhen and Suzhou.

iii. Yangtze River Delta: Small and medium-sized enterprises are outstanding

The Yangtze River Delta, with Shanghai as the center, includes Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui and other provinces.

As is known to all, Shanghai has a strong industrial base.In the era of planned economy, Shanghai medical device industry has been regarded as the leader of China’s medical device industry in terms of product quality and technology research and development.

Disposable medical devices and medical consumables in the Yangtze River Delta region account for more than half of the domestic market, with representative industries including ophthalmic equipment from Suzhou, medical ultrasound from Wuxi, microwave equipment and radiofrequency tumor hyperthermia equipment from Nanjing, MRI industry from Ningbo, etc.Coupled with the high-tech Shanghai medical device industry, the medical device industry cluster in the Yangtze River Delta has become an important base for China’s medical device innovation, R&D and production.

Another characteristic of the medical instruments in the Yangtze River Delta region, especially in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, is that they are small and complete.

The products include ophthalmology, orthopedics, surgical instruments, disposable medical instruments and other aspects, basically covering the daily needs of the hospital’s routine medical instruments.At present, the scale and output value of medical devices in the Yangtze River Delta region account for the largest proportion in China. Jiangsu Province is the largest medical device production region in China. With the continuous advancement of the construction of science and technology innovation center in Shanghai, a number of emerging cutting-edge technologies and innovative products of medical devices have come out one after another.

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