Recently, the Tianjin Municipal Finance Bureau and Health Commission issued the Notice on Adjustment of Examination of Government-imported Medical Equipment, where relevant requirements for municipal budget units to purchase the medical equipment that is not restricted at the state level are adjusted as follows:

The expert group for demonstration of imported medical equipment shall consist of five or more experts (singular), including at least one legal expert, and the technical experts therein shall be from other units but familiar with the products. In addition, demonstration experts shall have no economic or administrative affiliation relationship with the municipal budget unit or procurement agency concerned.

Not long ago, the Shandong Provincial Finance Department issued the 2019 Catalogue of Imported Products of Shandong Provincial Government, listing 448 medical apparatuses that can be imported by the provincial government.

According to the regulations, domestic goods, engineering products and services shall be purchased during government procurement, and imported products shall not be purchased without examination and demonstration as required and approval by the finance department.

This means that, in addition to 488 medical products in the List of Imported Products, public hospitals need to purchase domestically produced products in the case of government-level procurement!

Compared with Shandong Province, Shanxi Provincial Government permits much fewer imports!

The List of Imported Products for Shanxi Provincial Government Procurement was issued on the website of Shanxi provincial government procurement, listing 67 medical products that can be imported.

In the Shanxi Provincial 2018-2019 Centralized Procurement Catalogue and Quota issued by the Provincial Finance Bureau, domestic goods, engineering products and services shall be purchased during government procurement, and imported products shall not be purchased without examination and demonstration as required and approval by the finance department.

This means that, in addition to 67 medical products in the List of Imported Products, public hospitals need to purchase domestically produced products in the case of government-level procurement!

The Ministry of Finance issued the Regulations on Government Procurement of Imported Products in 2007, mainly to promote the independent innovative implementation of government procurement policies, and regulate the government procurement of imported products. It is stipulated that the governments shall purchase domestic products and the imported products involved in government procurement shall be approved!

In 2018, the nationwide call for support of domestic products reached its peak. The medical equipment industry that is subject to long-term monopoly of foreign brands became a key area for promotion of domestic products. All provinces intensified the restraints for imported medical products, and gave priority to domestic products that conformed to the equivalent standards!

These policies accelerate the use of domestic high-end equipment and consumables in hospitals.

Zhejiang Province

The Zhejiang Provincial Department of Finance recently issued the 2018-2019 Notice on the 2018-2019 List of Unified Demonstration of Zhejiang Government Procurement of Imported Products (Medical Equipment), and the 2018-2019 List of Unified Demonstration of Zhejiang Provincial Government Procurement of Imported Products (Medical Equipment).

In total, 232 kinds of medical equipment are allowed to be imported after demonstration, and the remaining shall be purchased from domestic manufacturers. Where imported products are necessary, applications shall be submitted, followed by rigorous audit and further demonstration.

This notice was explicitly issued in accordance with the Notice of Provincial Finance Bureau on Further Strengthening of Management over Government Procurement of Imported Products. It is specified in this notice that the government procurement of imported products shall be based on the lowest evaluation price method or cost-performance method, without restraints to similar domestic products.

Fujian

At the end of last year, the Fujian Provincial Finance Bureau issued the 2018-2019 List of Fujian Provincial Procurement of Imported Products.

In order to further regulate the government procurement of imported products, simplify the audit process, and increase the procurement efficiency, we solicited the opinions of the units directly under the provincial government on imported products, conducted the unified expert demonstration, and prepare the new List of Fujian Provincial Government Procurement of Imported Products (draft for comments) (hereinafter referred to as the List) based on the previous version (M.C.G. (2014) No. 21). Once the List is officially implemented, the imported products therein will need no expert demonstration.

That is, only the 221 kinds of medical equipment listed are permitted to be imported; otherwise, domestic products shall be used.

Sichuan Province

In the last December, the Notice of Sichuan Provincial Finance Bureau on the 2018-2019 List of Provincial Government Procurement of Imported Products was issued on the Sichuan provincial government procurement website.

It can be seen in this notice that the number of imported products allowed in government procurement deceased to 44 from 98 in the previous year. In addition, the number of imported products was specified explicitly.

For 15 kinds of imported products permitted in government procurement, “domestic products shall be used for clinical purposes, and imported products shall be for large-scale complex surgeries and scientific research only in Class 3A hospitals”.

At the national level, according to the China Labor and Social Security News, the person-in-charge of the National Health Commission said in online exchange with netizens that the government procurement law should be strictly enforced to financially give priority to domestic medical equipment.

According to reports, in order to promote the development and application of domestic medical equipment, the National Health Commission will formulate and improve the equipment standards for medical and health institutions, and guide these institutions to use appropriate medical equipment based on the functions, while controlling the procurement of medical equipment.

The use of domestic high-end equipment and consumables is gradually accelerated throughout the country!