Overview of China's medical device import and export trade in 2021

In 2021, the global situation of the new pneumonia epidemic remains complex and severe, the world economic recovery process is hampered, and the global public health system and people's production and life are facing formidable challenges. China's medical equipment industry, represented by medical and epidemic prevention materials and related products, has attracted global attention and continued to contribute China's strength to the global fight against the epidemic, playing an important role in stabilizing foreign trade.

　

　According to the statistics of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medical and Health Products (hereinafter referred to as the Medical Chamber of Commerce) (hereinafter referred to as the same), in 2021, the proportion of China's medical device exports to the exports of medical products increased by one percentage point year-on-year to 54.2%, and has occupied half of China's medical product export trade for two consecutive years.

The high-quality development of China's medical device industry has been well reflected in both domestic and international markets and will continue to develop steadily.

　

　Overall stability of import and export trade

　

Data from the Chamber of Commerce for Medical Protection shows (China Customs eight-digit code statistics, some codes cover non-medical products, such as chemical, textile, rubber and other products, while not covering some ten-digit code pharmaceutical products) that in 2021, China's medical device import and export trade amounted to US$144.087 billion, down 16.87% year-on-year, of which exports were US$99.409 billion, down 24.73% year-on-year ( See Table 1 for details).

The decline in exports was mainly due to the fact that many countries and regions have gradually normalised their response to the epidemic and are relatively well supplied with epidemic prevention materials, and that several countries and regions with more serious epidemic situations have adjusted their local epidemic prevention policies, resulting in a reduction in panic purchasing.

　　

As the global production capacity of medical epidemic prevention materials and related products gradually recovered, the export demand for masks (medical/non-medical), protective clothing and other products fell, and the overall export of medical equipment in China declined.

Among them, the export value of medical dressing products, including protective products, fell severely year-on-year by as much as 73.89%, basically returning to the pre-epidemic level.

However, starting from the first quarter of 2021, other categories of medical devices (such as disposable consumables, hospital diagnostic and therapeutic products, healthcare and rehabilitation products, and dental equipment and materials) responded to the international market demand, and the product structure was further optimised, with the export value returning to normal levels, and the growth rate in the second half of the year saw a significant increase.

　　

In terms of export markets, the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Japan are China's main export markets for medical devices, with exports of US$25.760 billion to the United States in 2021, topping the list of many export markets.

In addition to traditional markets, countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" have increased demand for China's medical devices due to the impact of the epidemic.

Among them, China's medical equipment exports to Vietnam amounted to US$1.828 billion, an increase of 40.16% year-on-year, while exports to Thailand amounted to US$1.599 billion, an increase of 88.53% year-on-year (see Table 2 for details).

It is worth noting that China's exports of medical devices to countries and regions along the "Belt and Road" have accounted for more than 30% of China's total medical device exports, and it is expected that the proportion will be further expanded in the future.

　　

From the perspective of exporting provinces and cities, the sum of the export value of the top ten shipping places of China's medical device exports accounted for as much as 90%, indicating that China's medical device production and export regions are highly concentrated.

Among them, the top three provinces and cities in terms of export value were Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu, with export values of US$21.701 billion, US$19.023 billion and US$13.708 billion respectively (see Table 3 for details). Although the export value of all three regions showed different degrees of decline, the overall export scale expanded compared with that before the epidemic.