China hits back at EU ban with ‘tit-for-tat’ medical device restrictions

Robert Barrie

Mon, Jul 7, 2025, 1:32 PM 4 min read

China has imposed restrictions on procurement of European medical devices, following a similar move made by the European Union (EU) earlier this year.

Last month, the EU voted to ban Chinese companies from participating in public procurement tenders for medical device contracts valued at more than €5m ($5.72m) after an investigation found that fair access was not being reciprocated in China.

The Chinese Government has now issued its own freeze, excluding EU-based companies from procurement for certain medical devices. The purchasing threshold for China’s restrictions is a price of over 45 million yuan ($6.3m). The notice was effective immediately when it was announced on 6 July.

Published in January 2025, the EU’s investigation concluded that Chinese policies, such as the nation’s ‘Made in China 2025’ economic roadmap, favoured domestic medical devices over imported ones by design.

The Chinese commerce ministry has rebuffed the EU’s ban, commenting that it continues to set up barriers for Chinese companies in public procurement.

A spokesperson for the ministry said: “Regrettably, despite China's goodwill and sincerity, the EU has insisted on taking restrictive measures to build new protectionist barriers.

"Therefore, China has no choice but to take reciprocal restrictive measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and maintain a fair competition environment."

Dr Andrew Thompson, director of therapy research and analysis in medical devices for GlobalData, commented: “It seems almost exactly tit for tat – China is rejecting entirely the EU's findings about China's anti-competition restrictions from 2024.”

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the country's demand for EU imports has slowly reduced, with exports to the EU being pretty flat; $10bn in 2021 and $10.4bn in 2023. However, in 2024, exports to the EU surged to almost $11.4bn, while imports continued to decline, resulting in the EU having a negative trading relationship with China for the first time, Thompson says.

“This is reflective of how Chinese brands are beginning to dominate all tiers of the Chinese healthcare market. I suspect China will hold fast in negotiations, and that it is the EU which will climb down," added Thompson.

Trade association MedTech Europe said in a statement: “We regret China’s decision to further restrict access to its public procurement market for medical technologies produced in the European Union. Measures of this nature risk deepening trade tensions and ultimately deny patients timely access to indispensable medical technologies.”