MEDTEC China sells out, growth prognosis holds for Chinese medical device market

reported that 400 exhibitors have signed on and will cover around 10,000 sq m (107,000 sq ft) of space in hall 2 of the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center from Sept. 25-26. The 2012 edition, featured 360 exhibitors and attendance eclipsing 7000, which was itself up 6.8% from 2011.

China is undertaking serious healthcare and insurance reforms, which are expected to have a dramatic impact on the size of its medical market, including medical devices. These were initially announced in April 2009, with the stated goal of offering all citizens equal access to affordable basic health care by 2012.

The device market value was already forecast to grow by 184% from 2005 to 2014, rising from $8.8 billion to $25 billion over that time, according to China Association for Medical Devices Industry data.

Healthcare expenditure per capita are forecast to explode by 249% from around $180 in 2010 to nearly $450 by 2020, according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Part of that expansion is comes in the form of greater access to healthcare. China had sought to add more than 53,000 hospitals, community health service centers, and rural health centers from 2009 to 2011, according to a report from Exolus International Advisory entitled "China 2020: Medical Device Sector."

That same report noted that to date it is largely non-Chinese companies that are benefitting from the growth.

"Foreign companies have a comparative advantage in terms of technology and presently control 90% of the high-end device market, especially large medical device manufacturers from Japan, Germany, and the USA," the report stated.

West heads east
The influence of non-domestic suppliers is evident in MEDTEC China 2013 exhibitor list, which includes some familiar names for the North American Medical device industry.

Bemis Flexible PackagingNypro HealthcareUnited Plastics GroupColder ProductsPhillips-MedisizeValue PlasticsGW PlasticsPrentVestaHelix MedicalTessy PlasticsZeus

On the equipment and supplier side, there are also a number of Western companies that will in Shanghai in September:

Bayer MaterialScienceDukaneLPKFRinco UltrasonicsBluestar SiliconesEastman ChemicalLubrizolSABIC Innovative PlasticsDavis-StandardEvonikNexeoSaint Gobain Performance PlasticsDow CorningHerrmann UltrasonicsNuSilSolvay Specialty PolymersDSMInstronOGPStyronDuPontLeisterPuracWacker Chemicals