A Chinese government procurement policy on domestic products took effect on January 1, providing preferential treatment to products manufactured in China. Under the policy, domestically produced products can receive a 20 percent price deduction during procurement evaluations when competing with imported products. The Ministry of Finance will establish, within five years, requirements for the proportion of domestically produced components and, for certain products, key components and production processes that must be met for a product to qualify as domestically produced.
In theory, foreign companies can qualify for the domestic-product preference if they manufacture in China and meet the requirements. How the policy will work in practice remains to be seen.
According to The Epoch Times, a source at a public hospital in Hubei said the hospital had received internal instructions to prioritize domestic medical-equipment suppliers and to verify product specifications, registration certificates, country of origin, and budgets during procurement. A source at a Beijing hospital said many Chinese medical-equipment manufacturers are struggling or have even gone bankrupt because of tight medical-insurance funds. As a result, hospitals have received government instructions to purchase domestic products, even though foreign medical equipment is generally considered to be of good quality and offers a wider range of products.
The report said some foreign medical-equipment companies have reduced or withdrawn their operations in China in recent years. A representative of a U.S. medical-equipment company in Guangdong said the company’s workforce in China had fallen from more than 150 employees at its peak to just three, all working remotely without an office.
Source: Epoch Times, September 8, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/8/n14844701.htm