Beijing restricts EU medical devices in government procurement

The hits keep coming in China-EU trade relations.

On Sunday, China's Ministry of Finance (MoF) announced that government procurement will exclude medical devices imported from the EU.

Some context: In June, the EU barred Chinese medical device suppliers from participating in public tenders worth more than EUR 5 million.

• Regardless of where the product is made, tenders are off-limits if over 50% of the inputs are from China.

In a tit-for-tat response, the MoF has now restricted EU-origin medical devices from participating in (MoF):

• Government procurement projects with contract values over RMB 45 million (EUR 5 million)
• Cases where EU-origin content exceeds 50% of the product’s value

But there’s one crucial exemption (MofCom):

• “Products manufactured by EU-invested companies in China are not affected.”

Get smart: The reciprocal RMB 45 million threshold means the material impact of this restriction is minor.

• Only a small share of procurement contracts exceed that level.
• Meanwhile, most foreign medtech firms have localized production in China – further limiting business impact.

Our question: EU-China trade relations are in the gutter – can the two sides reach a last-minute compromise ahead of the China–EU summit at the end of this month?