Distribution of Devicesat China’s Hospitals In order to successfully sell devices in all of

Distribution of Devicesat China’s Hospitals

In order to successfully sell devices in all of China’s hospitals, one needs to consider listing and tendering/bidding.

Listing: In many instances, an imported device will not be considered for sale in a hospital unless it is listed on the hospital’s authorized equipment list. Usually, there is an official application process where a company can request to have their product listed with the hospital. Eventually, the product will need to be represented by a department head or a key opinion leader associated with the hospital and he or she will present the product to the hospital’s advisory committee. The advisory committee makes the final decision on whether the product should be listed. There are a lot of details and potential pitfalls in this process. In some cases, developing a relationship with the hospital may accelerate the process of being considered by the advisory committee. The entire listing process can take as few as three months or as much as three years.

Tendering/Bidding: After a successful listing, an important factor in establishing a market for your product in China is tendering. Hospitals specify a device product category and invite price bids from authorized distributors. There are are two products that can be accepted for each product category—one that is a lower value domestic product and one that is a higher value imported product. Bidding for low-value devices usually are carried out by hospitals themselves every year. In contrast, higher-value device bids most often are handled by the country’s Ministry of Health.