EU Commission to restrict Chinese companies in medical devices procurement

The European Commission, the primary executive arm of the EU, announced their decision to exclude Chinese companies from EU government purchases of medical devices exceeding EUR€5 million in a bid to rebalance trade barriers.

The decision follows results from an initial investigation under the International Procurement Instrument (IPI), and will allow no more than 50% of inputs from China for successful procurement bids, though exclusions apply if no alternative suppliers are available. The IPI investigation and subsequent decision are in response to what the Commission deems proportionate to barriers in China, aiming to incentivise China to include EU-made medical devices in Chinese government contracts.

From 2015 to 2023, imports of Chinese medical devices to the EU more than doubled, while China has made it significantly more difficult for EU companies to export to their market – 87% of public procurement contracts for medical devices in China were subject to legislation the EU Commission claims are “exclusionary and discriminatory”. EU officials also claim Medtech Europe figures value the EU medical technology market at approximately EUR€150 billion in 2023, with public procurement making up 70%. With global public procurement valued at over EUR€11 trillion annually, the EU public procurement market states it is one of the most open markets globally. The EU Commission’s ban would cover medical devices such as imaging equipment, artificial body parts, and medical clothing. The Commission also stated that “clear evidence” showed China favouring Chinese devices for hospitals, and that its tender conditions continually resulted in low bids.

While dialogue between the two regions is still open, China’s commerce ministry has previously called the measures as “protectionist”, and urged for transparency on both sides to resolve the issues. Meanwhile, the EU Commission has stated that China has not proposed any concrete and satisfactory solutions, leading to the implementation of such measures.

Sources:

Commission restricts Chinese participation in medical devices procurement [Accessed June 23, 2025] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1569

EU bars Chinese firms from most medical device tenders [Accessed June 23, 2025] https://www.reuters.com./business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/eu-bars-chinese-firms-most-medical-device-tenders-2025-06-20/