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The EU has decided to restrict imports of Chinese medical devices in retaliation for Beijing’s alleged discrimination against foreign manufacturers in bids for public contracts.
The vote by member states, which escalates trade tensions between two of the world’s biggest economies, will require public authorities to exclude Chinese bidders from contracts worth more than €5mn for the next five years.
Brussels said in January that Chinese policies forced hospitals to choose domestic suppliers. It found 87 per cent of contracts contained “direct and indirect discrimination”, including prohibiting imported medical devices.
Beijing’s “Made in China” policy prioritises domestic production and sets targets for its use.
It is the first use of new EU legislation — the International Procurement Instrument — which was adopted in 2022 with the aim of helping force open overseas procurement markets.
EU countries bought €5.2bn of Chinese medical devices in 2024, from MRI scanners to syringes, according to Eurostat.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has said previously he is willing to find a negotiated solution with Beijing. He will talk to Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao on Tuesday on the margins of the OECD ministerial meeting in Paris.
The two sides have a growing number of trade disputes to discuss.
In October, the EU hit Chinese electric vehicles with tariffs of up to 45 per cent. It has also opened numerous anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations from plywood to car and truck tyres.
China has imposed anti-dumping tariffs on brandy and started investigations into pork and dairy products.
However, it has also lifted sanctions on four EU lawmakers in a bid to improve ties.
Both face high US tariffs but there is little sign so far that the EU will change its “de-risking” policy that seeks to reduce dependency on China for critical minerals and technology.
EU imports of Chinese devices doubled between 2015 and 2023, according to the European Commission. It found that high-performance medical devices were among 10 core industries in Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” strategy.
China has also set targets for the share of domestically produced medical devices bought by the country’s hospitals — of 70 per cent by 2025 and 95 per cent by 2030, the report found.
It found that less than a tenth of 380,000 procurement tenders for medical devices between January 2017 and May 31 2024 had eligibility criteria open to scrutiny.
