European Union member states have endorsed a European Commission proposal to restrict Chinese medical device manufacturers from participating in EU public procurement tenders, following findings of systemic barriers faced by European firms in accessing China\u2019s public markets.<\/p>\n
The proposed measures, adopted under the EU\u2019s International Procurement Instrument<\/em> (IPI), mark the first use of the trade reciprocity framework designed to counter unfair access conditions in third-country procurement markets. The Commission\u2019s decision follows an investigation launched in April 2024, which concluded that Chinese public tenders consistently favoured domestic suppliers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is clear evidence that China has imposed discriminatory procurement practices, resulting in unfair competitive advantages for Chinese companies,\u201d an EU diplomat said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Under the IPI, Chinese suppliers could face a five-year exclusion from high-value EU tenders or be subjected to a competitive disadvantage through penalty scoring\u2014provided that any enforcement action remains \u201cproportionate,\u201d in line with EU legal standards.<\/p>\n The European Commission did not publicly disclose the final voting outcome or detailed content of the proposal but confirmed that member states had reviewed the measure on Monday. If implemented, the restrictions would significantly impact Chinese firms bidding in the EU\u2019s \u20ac2 trillion public procurement market.<\/p>\n Beijing has strongly condemned the initiative. In a statement issued Tuesday, China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce labelled the proposal as \u201cprotectionist,\u201d warning that it undermines fair competition and raises new trade barriers.<\/p>\n \u201cChina will closely monitor the EU\u2019s actions and will take necessary measures to protect the legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises,\u201d the ministry said, urging Brussels to resolve the dispute through dialogue and cooperation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The China Chamber of Commerce to the EU echoed similar concerns, expressing \u201cprofound disappointment\u201d and arguing that European firms have enjoyed substantial market access in China.<\/p>\n A January 2024 Commission report revealed that 87% of the reviewed Chinese public tenders included direct or indirect restrictions against imported medical devices. The most affected categories included ENT (ear, nose, and throat) equipment, diagnostic imaging tools, and general-use diagnostic devices.<\/p>\n The report also noted a rise in explicit bans on foreign devices in Chinese tenders between 2022 and 2024. Despite the findings, Chinese authorities have yet to propose corrective actions, according to EU officials.<\/p>\n As trade frictions escalate\u2014including EU tariffs on China-made electric vehicles and retaliatory actions on EU brandy\u2014discussions between high-level officials are ongoing. EU Trade Commissioner Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d is scheduled to meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao in Paris this week, in an attempt to de-escalate tensions and seek constructive pathways.<\/p>\n The European Commission has maintained that it remains open to negotiations, which could avert the imposition of the new procurement restrictions.<\/p>\n \u201cNow more than ever, constructive dialogue is essential to avoid a fragmentation of global markets,\u201d said one EU official familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" European Union member states have endorsed a European Commission proposal to restrict Chinese medical device manufacturers from participating in EU public procurement tenders, following findings of systemic barriers faced by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulatory"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/EU-backs-curbs-on-Chinese-medical-device-firms-in-public-tenders.avif","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6313,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6311\/revisions\/6313"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regtechafrica.com\/healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
Mounting Trade Tensions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Findings from the EU Investigation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Diplomatic Engagement Continues<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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