World’s leading Medical Imaging Equipment Makers Focus on Chinese Healthcare Expansion

As the Chinese economy grows, the nation plans to spend billions of dollars on new hospitals and clinics, making health care accessible to nearly every Chinese citizen. All of this growth is outlined in a three-year healthcare plan that was announced in late 2009, and Western medical equipment manufacturers are anxious to serve these needs with advanced diagnostic imaging systems.

Despite Chinese procurement rules that make it difficult for foreign suppliers to compete for this business, companies like Royal Philips Electronics, General Electric and Siemens AG are setting their sights on China. The need for advanced medical imaging equipment within China’s healthcare infrastructure is expected to fuel robust sales for high-tech scanning devices.

According to industry analysts Frost & Sullivan, China’s medical equipment market is expected to double in size by the year 2015, reaching more than $53 billion. This includes a wide range of patient monitoring devices and durable medical equipment, but much of this increase will likely come from the sale of CT and MRI scanners, which can cost up to $2 million each. This is great news for the beleaguered U.S. medical device industry, which has suffered a great deal during the economic downturn, falling by one-third of its value just last year alone.

Philips Healthcare has projected double-digit increases in its Chinese healthcare operations unit, and General Electric has already generated $1 billion in new revenue from the Chinese market. Siemens expects rapid increases in spending on their medical imaging equipment in China, far exceeding the market’s 10% annual growth percentage. As a result, all three of these companies have expanded their offerings of less expensive imaging gear to meet the needs of rural hospitals and clinics across China.

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