Support policies for foreign investment in the medical field have been upgraded again.
The key content related to the medical field is excerpted as follows:
1. Expanding pilot programs to open up the medical field
We (i.e., the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission) will support efforts of the pilot regions to publicize and implement the opening-up policies for value-added telecommunications, biotechnology, and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, and assemble special teams to follow foreign-invested projects under discussion and help solve problems timely, and push for early implementation of these projects. We will expand pilot programs to open up the telecommunications and medical sectors at an appropriate time.
2. Ensuring the lift of restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector is well-implemented.
For areas not on the negative lists for foreign investment access, we will administer foreign investment access in the principle of equal treatment for domestic and foreign investment alike. We will revise the negative list for market access and further reduce the listed items to expand opening-up to all types of market operators.
3. Advancing opening-up of the biomedicine sector in an orderly manner.
We will support the participation of qualified foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the segmented production of biological products on a pilot basis, speed up the review of pilot programs and quality monitoring programs at the provincial level, promote the optimization of resource allocation in the biomedicine industry, and coordinate for the timely resolution of difficulties facing enterprises in the pilot process.
We will study and improve the opening-up policies for the pharmaceutical sector, facilitate more rapid launch of new drugs, optimize volume-based drug procurement, and make medical device procurement more predictable.
4. Foreign investment utilization will be encouraged in services sectors including elderly care, culture and tourism, sports, healthcare, vocational education, and finance to meet consumer demand for multi-tiered services.
5. Implementing the strategy to upgrade pilot free trade zones. We will improve the quality and efficiency of pilot free trade zones, expand the authorization of reform tasks, accelerate the implementation of core policies for the Hainan Free Trade Port, and create a highland for attracting foreign investment. We support pilot free trade zones in stepping up stress tests in sectors accessible to foreign investment and continuing to expand institutional opening up in rules, regulation, management, and standards.
6. Removing restrictions on foreign-invested investment companies’ access to domestic loans. Foreign-invested investment companies will be allowed to access domestic loans for equity investment. We will make greater efforts to communicate relevant policies and provide facilitation for multinational companies to invest in and establish headquarters and similar institutions in China.
7. Encouraging foreign equity investment in China. We will earnestly implement the Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment in Listed Companies by Foreign Investors, formulate and release guidelines for making strategic investments, and intensify publicity efforts targeting listed companies, overseas funds, investment institutions, etc., to encourage more high-quality long-term foreign investment in listed Chinese companies.
Strengthening support for FIEs’ reinvestment in China. We will keep optimizing the business environment and ensure full national treatment for FIEs. We will research and formulate policy measures to encourage FIEs to reinvest in China and use more of their profits made in China for reinvestment. We will pilot an information report program for FIEs’ investment in China.
8. Encouraging foreign investment in a wider range of industries. We will revise and expand the catalogue of industries where foreign investment is encouraged, optimize the foreign investment mix, promote the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing sector with foreign investment, steer foreign investment to the modern services sector, and support more foreign investment flows into China’s central, western, and northeastern regions.
Over the past two years, both national and local governments have increasingly expanded opening-up to foreign investment in the medical field, continuously sending positive signals by reducing restrictions and enhancing the business environment.
On November 29 last year, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and two other authorities jointly issued the Work Plan for Allowing the Establishment of Wholly Foreign-Owned Hospitals in More Pilot Areas, which allows the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and entire Hainan Island. This can be seen as a major move in recent years in terms of policies supporting foreign investment in the medical sector and will not only concern the development of foreign investment in the domestic high-end medical demand market but also influence a series of subsequent actions including the introduction of related drugs, consumables, and equipment.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance’s Notice on Equal Treatment for Domestic and Foreign Companies in Government Procurement Activities states that in government procurement activities, except for procurement projects involving national security and state secrets, products produced by domestic and foreign-invested enterprises within China shall not be treated differently. The right of products produced within China, regardless of whether their suppliers are domestic or foreign-invested enterprises, to participate equally in government procurement activities shall be protected according to law.
Global medical consumption is currently shifting from “survival-oriented” demands to “expansion-oriented” demands. The boundaries of medical services keep extending, and social capital can cover the diversified new demands arising in the medical service market, thereby enhancing the accessibility of medical services.
Supported by the high-standard opening-up policy, the integration of domestic and foreign capital is accelerating innovation-driven development, and foreign medical device enterprises are achieving long-term growth in the Chinese market by deepening local cooperation, focusing on high-end innovation fields, and flexibly responding to centralized procurement policies.
The Foreign Investment Guide of the People’s Republic of China (2024) Edition released by the Ministry of Commerce mentions that 13,758 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in high-tech industries in 2023, and their actual use of foreign capital reached USD 60.98 billion. Among them, 841 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in the high-tech manufacturing industry, and their actual use of foreign capital reached USD 18.1 billion.
According to data disclosed by the Ministry of Commerce, from January to October 2024, the actual use of foreign capital in the medical treatment instrument and meter manufacturing industry increased by 61.7%, which was high compared to other industries.
This January, GE Healthcare inaugurated its Precision Medicine Localization Practice Base in Chengdu, which will continue to expand the high-end nuclear medicine production line and the localization of key components, to empower local suppliers.
The cornerstone laying ceremony of Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd.’s new high-end medical equipment R&D and manufacturing base project was held recently. The project has a total investment of over RMB 1 billion and is expected to start production by the end of 2027 at the latest.
The biological API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) project invested by the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, with an amount of about EUR 1 billion, is currently being accelerated. As Sanofi’s fourth production and supply base in China, this project represents the company’s largest single investment in China.
Benefiting from strong policy support, it is believed that high-level major foreign investment projects with strong driving forces will continue to be launched in China and multinational medical device enterprises will enjoy further expanded development space in the Chinese market.
Source: Saibailan Devices
01
China released an action plan for stabilizing foreign investment
Medical device procurement will be made more predictable
The 2025 Action Plan for Stabilizing Foreign Investment of the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission forwarded by the General Office of the State Council on February 17 (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”) (see the end of the article) proposes 20 measures in four aspects: expanding self-initiated opening-up in an orderly manner, improving the level of investment promotion, strengthening the functions of opening-up platforms, and redoubling efforts to enhance services. China released an action plan for stabilizing foreign investment
Medical device procurement will be made more predictable
The key content related to the medical field is excerpted as follows:
1. Expanding pilot programs to open up the medical field
We (i.e., the Ministry of Commerce and the National Development and Reform Commission) will support efforts of the pilot regions to publicize and implement the opening-up policies for value-added telecommunications, biotechnology, and wholly foreign-owned hospitals, and assemble special teams to follow foreign-invested projects under discussion and help solve problems timely, and push for early implementation of these projects. We will expand pilot programs to open up the telecommunications and medical sectors at an appropriate time.
2. Ensuring the lift of restrictions on foreign investment in the manufacturing sector is well-implemented.
For areas not on the negative lists for foreign investment access, we will administer foreign investment access in the principle of equal treatment for domestic and foreign investment alike. We will revise the negative list for market access and further reduce the listed items to expand opening-up to all types of market operators.
3. Advancing opening-up of the biomedicine sector in an orderly manner.
We will support the participation of qualified foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) in the segmented production of biological products on a pilot basis, speed up the review of pilot programs and quality monitoring programs at the provincial level, promote the optimization of resource allocation in the biomedicine industry, and coordinate for the timely resolution of difficulties facing enterprises in the pilot process.
We will study and improve the opening-up policies for the pharmaceutical sector, facilitate more rapid launch of new drugs, optimize volume-based drug procurement, and make medical device procurement more predictable.
4. Foreign investment utilization will be encouraged in services sectors including elderly care, culture and tourism, sports, healthcare, vocational education, and finance to meet consumer demand for multi-tiered services.
5. Implementing the strategy to upgrade pilot free trade zones. We will improve the quality and efficiency of pilot free trade zones, expand the authorization of reform tasks, accelerate the implementation of core policies for the Hainan Free Trade Port, and create a highland for attracting foreign investment. We support pilot free trade zones in stepping up stress tests in sectors accessible to foreign investment and continuing to expand institutional opening up in rules, regulation, management, and standards.
6. Removing restrictions on foreign-invested investment companies’ access to domestic loans. Foreign-invested investment companies will be allowed to access domestic loans for equity investment. We will make greater efforts to communicate relevant policies and provide facilitation for multinational companies to invest in and establish headquarters and similar institutions in China.
7. Encouraging foreign equity investment in China. We will earnestly implement the Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment in Listed Companies by Foreign Investors, formulate and release guidelines for making strategic investments, and intensify publicity efforts targeting listed companies, overseas funds, investment institutions, etc., to encourage more high-quality long-term foreign investment in listed Chinese companies.
Strengthening support for FIEs’ reinvestment in China. We will keep optimizing the business environment and ensure full national treatment for FIEs. We will research and formulate policy measures to encourage FIEs to reinvest in China and use more of their profits made in China for reinvestment. We will pilot an information report program for FIEs’ investment in China.
8. Encouraging foreign investment in a wider range of industries. We will revise and expand the catalogue of industries where foreign investment is encouraged, optimize the foreign investment mix, promote the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing sector with foreign investment, steer foreign investment to the modern services sector, and support more foreign investment flows into China’s central, western, and northeastern regions.
02
Favorable measures have been released in succession
Foreign medical device enterprises usher in a “tipping moment” in the market
As China’s medical resources are still unevenly distributed and the demands are complex and diverse, expanding the support for foreign investment in the medical field can not only effectively activate the market but also meet more diverse domestic medical market demands. Favorable measures have been released in succession
Foreign medical device enterprises usher in a “tipping moment” in the market
Over the past two years, both national and local governments have increasingly expanded opening-up to foreign investment in the medical field, continuously sending positive signals by reducing restrictions and enhancing the business environment.
On November 29 last year, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Commerce, and two other authorities jointly issued the Work Plan for Allowing the Establishment of Wholly Foreign-Owned Hospitals in More Pilot Areas, which allows the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and entire Hainan Island. This can be seen as a major move in recent years in terms of policies supporting foreign investment in the medical sector and will not only concern the development of foreign investment in the domestic high-end medical demand market but also influence a series of subsequent actions including the introduction of related drugs, consumables, and equipment.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance’s Notice on Equal Treatment for Domestic and Foreign Companies in Government Procurement Activities states that in government procurement activities, except for procurement projects involving national security and state secrets, products produced by domestic and foreign-invested enterprises within China shall not be treated differently. The right of products produced within China, regardless of whether their suppliers are domestic or foreign-invested enterprises, to participate equally in government procurement activities shall be protected according to law.
Global medical consumption is currently shifting from “survival-oriented” demands to “expansion-oriented” demands. The boundaries of medical services keep extending, and social capital can cover the diversified new demands arising in the medical service market, thereby enhancing the accessibility of medical services.
Supported by the high-standard opening-up policy, the integration of domestic and foreign capital is accelerating innovation-driven development, and foreign medical device enterprises are achieving long-term growth in the Chinese market by deepening local cooperation, focusing on high-end innovation fields, and flexibly responding to centralized procurement policies.
The Foreign Investment Guide of the People’s Republic of China (2024) Edition released by the Ministry of Commerce mentions that 13,758 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in high-tech industries in 2023, and their actual use of foreign capital reached USD 60.98 billion. Among them, 841 new foreign-invested enterprises were established in the high-tech manufacturing industry, and their actual use of foreign capital reached USD 18.1 billion.
According to data disclosed by the Ministry of Commerce, from January to October 2024, the actual use of foreign capital in the medical treatment instrument and meter manufacturing industry increased by 61.7%, which was high compared to other industries.
This January, GE Healthcare inaugurated its Precision Medicine Localization Practice Base in Chengdu, which will continue to expand the high-end nuclear medicine production line and the localization of key components, to empower local suppliers.
The cornerstone laying ceremony of Siemens Shenzhen Magnetic Resonance Ltd.’s new high-end medical equipment R&D and manufacturing base project was held recently. The project has a total investment of over RMB 1 billion and is expected to start production by the end of 2027 at the latest.
The biological API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) project invested by the multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, with an amount of about EUR 1 billion, is currently being accelerated. As Sanofi’s fourth production and supply base in China, this project represents the company’s largest single investment in China.
Benefiting from strong policy support, it is believed that high-level major foreign investment projects with strong driving forces will continue to be launched in China and multinational medical device enterprises will enjoy further expanded development space in the Chinese market.
Source: Saibailan Devices