Chinese medtech manufacturers are intent on targeting international markets, including the U.S., and the time to connect with Chinese companies and multinationals doing business in China is now, says Reed Exhibitions' director of International Sales, Geoff Sauer.

Reed's upcoming Chinese convention, China International Medical Equipment Fair (CMEF), to be held October 28-31 in Chengdu, will include such international heavyweights as: Siemens, Philips, GE, Roche, Johnson & Johnson Medical, Hitachi, Toshiba, Aloka, Sony, Olympus, Zeiss, Erbe, Datex-Ohmeda, Pentax, Samsung, Fuji, Shimadzu, Kodak, Agfa, Drager, Wandong, Neusoft, Anke, Mindray, Xinhua and more.

Manufacturers will exhibit all manner of imaging, surgical, rehabilitation, optical, dental and laser equipment, as well as consumables.

Please visit this site for more information: reedexpoISG.com.

Here are what a few exhibitors at Mr. Sauer's conference are telling him:

Perlot Group
Like many medical-device manufacturers in China, exhibitor Perlot Group was state owned until 2000. Now privately owned, the company focuses on designing and manufacturing imaging equipment. Company President Liu Jinhu did not hesitate to admit that the main appeal of the company's products is low price. The company considers itself a follower, not a leader, says Jinhu.

"In the past, we 'followed' Chinese companies and turned out less-expensive versions of existing products. Now we do the same for global companies such as Siemens, GE Healthcare, and Philips."

He notes that "although the company doesn't yet sell to the U.S. market, it exhibits at U.S. trade shows such as AACC (an annual radiological show), laying the groundwork for eventually penetrating U.S. markets, as well as opening a pipeline to future business with Mexico."

Before 2000, the firm had no international visitors at CMEF. Now, it needs three translators to keep pace, Jinhu says.

Carestream
Carestream Health says it works with the Chinese government to develop digital technology that will help bring health care to the over 900 million people in rural China.

According to the company, which makes interoral film and digital imaging equipment, built-up areas on the coast use mostly film-based imaging equipment. The lack of roads in rural regions makes it difficult to access this equipment.

Carestream has developed digital remote-hosted information systems, which overcome this obstacle.

CEO Kevin Hobert says the Chinese Ministry of Health played a major role in many companies' decision to manufacture in China. The organization recently passed a multibillion-dollar package to build roads, which should boost health care in rural areas, he says.

Speaking about the improvement in international business relations, Hobert says, "Ten years ago, cultural differences between East and West made it hard to manufacture in China. Chinese workers had different ideas on the importance of meeting deadlines. They also had difficulty making decisions without direction. But over time, a shift took place and now there are no differences in accountability, commitment, and empowerment," he says.

Yuyue

Yuyue, a Chinese firm that manufactures medical diagnostic equipment, reports it has been growing for the last three to five years. The publicly held company represents a perhaps not too unusual combination of old and new. Its logo is a fish head, symbol of a "fish jumping through the dragon gate."

According to Secretary of the board at the company J. Chen, the first Chinese character of this phrase signifies "the achievement of a better state." He says the company is going to change its name and logo soon to better target international markets.

"China will soon be the world's second largest market for medical devices, after the U.S. China is aggressively pushing the global market. Our product-development times are now so fast that medical devices have become almost like B2B consumer goods," says Chen.

Implications for Refurbished Equipment?

Production of low-cost new equipment in China may ultimately pose a competitive challenge not just to new equipment sales in the U.S., but to the aftermarket as well. A case in point is Positron's new stand-alone PET scanner, manufactured through a China partnership. Read about this at https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9005.

Regarding the rumor that the Chinese government may be relaxing its ban on refurbished goods (which could not be confirmed by DOTmed News), Mr. Sauer says he has no knowledge that the ban has been reversed, but said he may be able to provide DOTmed with an update in September.

DOTmed sources say that as Chinese regulators begin to understand what's involved in bringing used equipment up to OEM specifications, the ban may ultimately be relaxed. At that point, medical refurbishers will be able to tap into a huge new market. We'll keep you posted.

While the impact on medical equipment is unclear, China has relaxed some restrictions on imports of other used equipment technologies. Read DOTmed's report: https://www.dotmed.com/news/story/9127/