Market for Medical Technologies

China is the second biggest export market for German MedTech products. The Chinese market has seen significant growth in the past, especially for high-end and innovative technology products. It is expected that this development continues. A growing middle class, aging population and increasing health awareness, coupled with favourable policies and technology advancements are additional growth drivers. This leads to diverse opportunities for German MedTech companies.

However, the Chinese MedTech market becomes more competitive and challenging for foreign players in many ways. Enterprises need to develop market-specific strategies and unique selling propositions to be successful. This applies to market newcomers and well-established companies alike.

In China, approval procedures for certain products can last for up to three years and can require investments of six-digit Euro amounts. So companies tend to focus on specific market niches and emerging product categories. It is advisable to put out feelers at an early stage, build up market knowledge and liaise with experienced companies, distributors and clients. And here our seminar series comes in: We provide a platform to exchange best practices, learn from each other, establish valuable networks and explore collaboration opportunities.

Jochen Tenhagen:
Despite its huge potential, there are various challenges in the Chinese Medtech market. We already mentioned the regulatory environment, such as time-consuming and costly product approval procedures. Chinese competitors are also catching up quickly, supported by government initiatives like “Made In China 2025” or “Healthy China 2030”. Moreover, reforms in the government’s procurement and medical insurance programmes are leading to decreasing price levels, especially for less differentiated and standardized products.

Other uncertainties facing international enterprises can be expressed in questions such as: What is the ideal company structure in China? Should businesses export from Germany or set up local production sites? How do they prepare a business plan in a highly dynamic environment? How do foreign companies win public tenders? How can they build up other sales channels, create customer touchpoints and retention? Or how can they protect intellectual property?

Felix Wiebe:
The seminar series starts in May with an introductory session providing an overview on key trends and developments in China’s MedTech Market. This is followed by three additional seminars picking up on major fields of innovation and MedTech growth drivers: Miniaturization, Digitalization, and Molecularization. In all four seminars we have speakers from German MedTech companies that introduce their latest product innovations and share their experiences and market approach in China.

Jochen Tenhagen:
This MedTech seminar series addresses the latest industry developments, like micro- and nanotechnologies enabling minimally invasive surgery, digital transformation of medical devices and supply chains, or precision medicine as an emerging approach for disease treatment. We partner up with companies, MedTech clusters and leading industry experts from China and Germany.

Our role as a German Centre is to provide practical and hands-on information. As networking platform, we bring companies and other industry experts together to talk about the business environment, opportunities and challenges in China, and to share best practices. We are sure that the series is a straight-forward format to learn from each other and to compare and evaluate own strategies with the ones from other companies. The seminars deliver valuable contents for all companies planning to succeed in China.

Felix Wiebe:
All seminars are hybrid, and you can either take part on site at German Centre Beijing or join us online.
Details and registration can be found on our website

Thank you, Jochen and Felix!