Chang-Hong Whitney06.08.09
Despite a deepening worldwide recession, China’s export of medical devices maintained a double-digit increase at the end of last year. According to statistics published by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export, a quasi government/industry organization, the country’s diagnostic and medical therapeutic equipment exports reached $3.2 billion from January to November 2008, an increase of 31.4 percent compared to the same period in 2007. Exports in November exceeded 2007 levels by 24.1 percent. Of the products exported, blood pressure measuring devices showed the strongest results. China sold 39.5 million units from January to November 2008, contributing to 11 percent of total medical device exports. Large equipment, such as MRIs, also experienced healthy growth, with 389 units sold from January to November, a stunning 78 percent increase from the previous year. Large equipment sales for that period amounted to $139 million. A total of 935 million patient monitors were sold by Chinese manufacturers, for $136 million, representing 25.6 percent growth compared to 2007.
Exports to the U.S. medical market showed healthy growth of 36.9 percent compared to the same period in 2007, reaching $904 million. Small electronic medical devices remain the best seller to the United States, taking 30 percent of total medical devices exported, almost doubling the export amount from the previous year.