China - August 13, 2024

China accelerates localization of high-end medical devices

(Voice_over)

China is promoting its medical device industry, using products made domestically to better control costs for patients.

China has become the world's second largest medical device manufacturer, after the U.S., and produces more than 40 percent of the equipment it uses for medical imaging, robotic surgery and clinical testing.

At the First Hospital of China Medical University, a major emergency and critical treatment center in northeast China, radiologists use magnetic resonance imaging machines that are made in the country but say they could use a few more.

(Sound_bite)

Fan Guoguang, Head, Department of Radiology, First Hospital of China Medical University:

"We examined about 3,000 to 4,000 patients a day. Our department has 12 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, the most in the northeastern part of China. Though they are operating from early morning to midnight, it is still far from enough."

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Chinese hospitals used to rely heavily on imports for high-tech medical equipment like MRI machines.

But over the years, domestically made products have been catching up, with some even outperforming their international counterparts.

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Fan Guoguang, Head, Department of Radiology, First Hospital of China Medical University:

"I have seen some images made by the domestic MRI scanners, and they did light up my eyes. It can give out all 13 images in four and a half minutes. In the past, it took about four minutes to finish just one sequence."

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Data from the China Association of Medical Equipment showed that the country's medical equipment market totaled about 175.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2023.

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