Medical products are part of China’s major import and export commodities of medicine and healthcare. In 2005, the total import and export value of China’s medical products was USD 7,465 million, an increase of 23.19 % over the previous year, accounting for 29.12 % of the total value of the medicine and healthcare commodities. Of this, the export value of medical products reached USD3,679 million, 32.46% higher than 2004, representing 26.6% of the total export value of medicine and healthcare commodities.

During 2005, China medical products were mainly exported to Asia, North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Oceania and other countries and regions. The major countries and regions are USA, Japan, Germany and China Hong Kong. The countries and regions to which China exported with relatively higher values of medical products included Singapore, Netherlands, Korea, UK, Italy, Russia, Canada, China Taiwan, France, Turkey, India, Thailand, Ireland, Malaysia, Spain and Australia.

In 2005, China’s major provinces and cities exporting medical products were listed in table 3.

The top exporting companies in terms of total volume and value were Omron Dalian Co., Ltd., Nuctech Co., Ltd., GE Hangwei Medical Systems Co., Ltd. (GEHW), Rexton (Suzhou) Hearing Systems Co., Ltd., Terumo Medical Products (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Oriental Yatai International Trade Co., Ltd, Shenzhen Bao’an International Trade Development Co., Ltd., Daito-Osim Healthcare Manufacturing (Suzhou), Family Healthcare Devices (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Unitron Hearing (China) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., Amersham Health, GN ReSound (China). China’s medical products exporting during 2005 mainly focused on processing trade (USD 1,756 million, 47.76 %); less on ordinary trade (USD 1,541 million, 41.91%) and still less on assembling trade (USD 238 million, 6.45%).

In recent years, following the progress in China’s manufacturing techniques and product quality, medical product has seen slower growth in import and faster growth in export. In 2005, the volume and percentage with which import outweighs export continue to decrease,with the unfavorable trade balance decreasing to USD 107 million.

In 2005, the rapidly increasing production cost and the rising exchange rate of RMB against USD challenged China’s medical products export. Despite of these factors, due to the improved technique and quality, China’s production cost is relatively lower compared with that of its overseas counterparts. What’s more, China’s nationalization rate of some large-sized and advanced medical devices has been increasing. These will facilitate China’s export of medical products.