Favorable Factors for China's Medical Devices Future

I. Favorable policies
The medical device industry is one of the important indicators to measure a country's scientific and technological progress and the modernization of the national economy. Therefore, countries around the world generally attach importance to the strategic position of the development of the medical device industry. In recent years, China has successively introduced a series of supporting policies such as planning and guiding measures to promote the healthy development of the medical device industry.
"Made in China 2025" clearly regards new materials, bio-medicine and high-performance medical devices as one of the ten key development areas, and proposes to improve the innovation capability and industrialization level of medical devices, and gradually get rid of the situation of relying on imports for high-end medical devices. The "Thirteenth Five-Year" National Science and Technology Innovation Plan particularly emphasizes the development of key technologies such as digital diagnosis and treatment equipment, IVD products, key health promotion technologies, health service technologies, and elderly-disabled technologies during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period. The "Healthy China 2030" Planning Outline" proposes that in the next 15 years, the reform of the medical device distribution system will be deepened, medical device safety supervision will be strengthened, high-end medical device innovation capabilities will be enhanced, and medical device localization will be promoted.
 
II. Market demand continues to grow
The downstream of the medical device industry is medical and health institutions. On the one hand, the demand for medical devices and equipment is directly driven by the investment of medical and health institutions. In the long run, it is determined by the needs of Chinese residents for medical services. From the perspective of investment in medical and health institutions, driven by policies, the number of private hospitals and primary medical institutions will continue to grow rapidly in the next few years. The Ministry of Health’s regulations on the equipment configuration of various hospital departments at all levels will stimulate the demand for related medical equipment, and import substitution and upgrading also leave broad space for high-end medical device products. From the perspective of the medical service needs of Chinese residents, the increase in per capita disposable income, medical insurance coverage and reimbursement ratio have enhanced the payment ability of people who see a doctor. The population structure of China has gradually entered an aging stage, and the aging of society and the strength of residents' awareness of health care have continuously increased medical expenditures.
 
III. Technological innovation
With the convenience of international academic exchanges, the exchange of cutting-edge technologies in the industry has become more rapid, laying a foundation for the development and progress of medical devices. Excellent enterprises in China's medical device industry have gradually narrowed the gap with foreign-funded enterprises in terms of product function and quality through years of accumulation of technology, talents and manufacturing processes, and even reached the international leading level in certain segments. In the case of taking advantage of price and channels, some domestic medical device products have strong competitiveness in the international arena.
 
IV. Layout at home and abroad
In 2016, all China's overseas M&As were dominated by the United States, and there were many M&A cases in the medical device field. According to incomplete statistics, there are 9 mergers and acquisitions of medical equipment, and large mergers and acquisitions are increasing. Excellent domestic medical devices will continue to flood into the markets of developing countries and even into that of developed countries. In this process, international mergers and acquisitions are indispensable means, and China's medical device industry policies are gradually moving closer to the international advanced policies, which will lay the foundation for domestic companies to enter the international market in the next few years.