China has emerged as the second largest medical device market globally, exhibiting impressive growth that outpaces more mature markets. This remarkable trajectory is supported by several key trends and strategic government initiatives aimed at fostering innovation and expanding healthcare access.

Accelerated Focus on Innovation

The Chinese government is actively promoting the development of new and innovative medical products. This focus is essential in meeting the diverse healthcare needs of its vast population, particularly as the country faces an aging demographic. Accelerated approval pathways for products addressing unmet medical needs are put in place. The rapid growth of high-value consumables reflects this trend, growing at rates exceeding the overall market.

Preference for Imported Products

High-value products, particularly those imported from countries in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), are highly regarded in China. This appreciation stems from their advanced technology and reliability, making them a focal point for healthcare providers seeking quality medical solutions.

The Shift Towards Localization

In response to government directives encouraging local production, there is a clear trend toward locally manufactured products. However, the definition of what constitutes “local” remains vague, and the degree of localization required is not well specified. This uncertainty poses challenges but also opportunities for both domestic manufacturers and foreign companies looking to adapt to the evolving regulatory landscape.

Volume-Based Procurement: A New Norm

Volume-Based Procurement (VBP) is becoming the standard for medical devices in China, following similar initiatives in the pharmaceutical sector. This shift aims to reduce costs and improve access to medical devices, but it also necessitates that manufacturers and distributors adapt to more competitive pricing structures and align their strategies with various provincial alliances.

Aging Population and Rising Consumer Expenditure

China’s rapidly aging population is a significant driver of demand for medical devices. As healthcare needs increase, consumer health expenditure per capita is rising at a pace stronger than the Asian average. This trend highlights the growing importance of healthcare spending in the lives of Chinese citizens, further fueling the demand for advanced medical technologies.

Expansion of Healthcare Infrastructure

Over the next 30 years, China is poised to add a substantially higher number of hospital beds compared to the rest of Asia. This expansion is critical for enhancing healthcare capabilities to meet the rising demand for services, especially as the population ages and chronic diseases become more prevalent.

Conclusion

China’s medical device market is at a pivotal moment, characterized by rapid growth and transformation. With government support for innovation, a shift towards local production, and changing procurement practices, the landscape is evolving rapidly. As the country addresses the challenges posed by an aging population and rising healthcare demands, stakeholders must navigate these dynamics to capitalize on the opportunities within this vibrant market. The future of healthcare in China promises to be both innovative and expansive, setting the stage for significant advancements in medical technology.

What we can do for you

Our longstanding experience and knowledge within the Melchers Group along the value chain of the Chinese healthcare industry through sales, management, and compliance activities, as well as corporate services enables us to offer tailored and brand-oriented market approaches for all our partners.

We from Altride Healthcare, a subsidiary of the Melchers Group, with our local distribution Joint-Venture Meddax-Medical, are in an ideal position to help you grow your China medical devices business. We guide you through regulatory processes and take care of your market access and channel management with our dedicated medical device sales force, utilizing decades of experience. Financial transparency, compliance and trust are the key pillars of how we conduct business.

It has been a year now, since Altride Healthcare, a subsidiary of the Melchers Group, has signed an agreement with the Chinese company Maxwell Medical Technology to form a joint venture to enable market access, expand promotion and distribution activities of MedTech products in China.

The combination of strong local expertise and execution excellence with corporate governance by international standards, has led to the Sino-German joint venture Meddax Medical to reinforce support for multinational medical device manufacturers in the Chinese market.

A lot has happened and progressed in the past year. New diverse partnership agreements have been formed at Meddax Medical, for instance with Gentherm Medical, a globally operating market leader in thermal management technologies as well as with AKTORmed, the German market leader in the robotic assistance systems field. Meanwhile, the team at Meddax is working closely with its partner pfmmedical in continuously growing its China business.

Altride Healthcare is also working alongside LS medcap, supporting Chinese medical device companies to gain necessary regulatory approvals in Europe. The first knowledge sharing webinar took place in October, attracting more than 1,000 viewers highlighting the growing interest and relevance of this topic.

We are excited to continue to deliver innovative products to patients in China, thank our partners for the trust in us thus far and are looking forward to new product launches and partnerships in 2025.

Meddax Medical, the German Chinese joint venture between Altride Healthcare and Maxwell Medical, will be distributing Gentherm Medical patient temperature management products in selected provinces in China.

As the experts in patient temperature management, Gentherm Medical solutions are trusted by hospitals and healthcare professional worldwide.

Gentherm’s Patient Warming portfolio is designed to help maintain normothermia (normal body temperature) and reduce or eliminate unintended intraoperative hypothermia throughout the perioperative journey.

We are happy to support them in their mission to improve patient outcomes, increase the standard of care, and enhance patient satisfaction.

The addition of Gentherm Medical patient warming products to the portfolio of partners and solutions which the Meddax team can offer, fits well into the company’s scope. Meddax Medical is dedicated to offering high quality products to its customers in ICU, Anaesthesiology and Surgery departments across hospitals in China.

With the implementation of the new EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), the compliance requirements of the medical device industry are undergoing a major change. This has resulted in more challenges for the Chinese medical device companies entering the EU market.

In response to this changing market, Altride Healthcare, a wholly owned medical subsidiary of Melchers, LS medcap GmbH and Zeric, Beijing’s first medical device CDMO platform, will co-host a webinar titled “Navigating Chinese Medical Device Companies to the EU Market” at the end of this month:

Date: October 29, 2024

Time: 5pm-6pm (CST) / 10am-11am (CET)

Language: English

Registration link: https://melchers.webinargeek.com/navigating-chinese-medical-device-companies-to-the-eu-market

The webinar will address the following topics:

Session 1: Introduction to CE marking and the EU regulatory framework (MDR)

Session II: Roadmap for MDR implementation

Agenda (Beijing Time):

5:00pm Registration opens

5:00pm – 5:10pm Opening Remarks and Speaker Introductions

5:10pm – 5:50pm Keynote Speeches covering key issues in MDR implementation

5:50pm – 5:55pm Q&A Session, Dialogue with Experts

5:55 PM – 6:00 PM Closing Remarks and End of Workshop

Speakers:

• Dr. med. Tobias Walker, Chief Medical Officer, LS medcap GmbH
• Biol. Frank-Schulte-Hunsbeck, Director Quality Management / Regulatory Affairs, LS medcap GmbH
• Dr. rer. nat. Klaus Graef, Scientific Affairs Manager (Deputy Scientific Affairs), LS medcap GmbH
• Sc. Laura Klink, Junior Clinical Trial Manager (Deputy Clinical Affairs), LS medcap GmbH
• Levin von Gehren, Managing Director, Altride Healthcare Ltd.
• Sylvia Zhang Yinan, General Manager, Zeric Medical Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd.

You are welcome to register for this free webinar and learn from the experts how to deal with the complexities of entering the EU medical device market.

About the Co-Organizers:

About Altride

Altride is a Hong Kong-based company specializing in the healthcare business and is part of the Melchers Group. Founded in 1806 in Bremen, Germany, Maxima has 25 offices and more than 1,200 employees in Asia.

With over 155 years of experience in doing business in China and the synergies within the Melchers Group, we are committed to being your partner in China to help you take your business to the next level.

Altride provides comprehensive and specialized services to customers in the medical technology, medical consumables, pharmaceutical packaging, pharmaceutical machinery and life sciences sectors.

About LS medcap

LS medcap is your strategic partner for the entire lifecycle of your medical device products. We combine deep scientific and clinical expertise to provide customized solutions that help medical device manufacturers successfully enter the European market.

As an entrepreneurial family-owned company with deep roots in the life sciences, LS Healthcare has established and invested in innovative start-ups and small and medium-sized medical device companies in various European countries since its founding in Germany in 1999.

Our Medical Device Services business unit provides comprehensive and in-depth scientific and clinical services to European and international medical device companies, helping them to develop and grow in the European market and to successfully address regulatory challenges. Our clients are medical device companies with a global outlook, seeking to grow internationally.

With years of industry experience and clinical practice, LS Healthcare’s team of professionals, through the collaboration of our interdisciplinary departments, provides you with comprehensive support throughout the lifecycle and at every stage of a medical device product’s life cycle, from pre-market to post-market, including but not limited to:

• Scientific Affairs
• Clinical Affairs
• Quality Management/Regulatory Affairs

About Zeric Medical Technology

Zeric Medical Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive service provider specializing in R&D and contract manufacturing (CDMO), registration, quality system construction and clinical trials (RO) for medical devices, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and sterilization products. We can provide one-stop service for global customers to enter China.

Now we have four professional teams in R&D, GMP construction and production, CRO clinical trial and registration declaration, whose main members are senior experts from multinational enterprises and domestic manufacturers. In addition to domestic pharmaceutical companies, our clients come from more than 30 countries and regions, including the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Israel, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

Relying on the State Drug Administration and the Beijing Municipal Drug Administration to give the first pilot and vertical communication mechanism, with experienced technical service team, for biopharmaceutical enterprises product development and production, clinical trials and registration declaration of each link to provide the most reliable and fastest service.

If you have any questions about this webinar, please feel free to contact:

Serina Yue
Account Manager
serina.yue@altridehc.com
+86-158 1114 8019