CICC: Medical equipment collection begins to focus on import substitution and internationalization opportunities for high-end products

The Zhitong Finance App learned that CICC released a research report saying that on July 14, the National Health and Health Commission and other ministries issued the “Notice on Further Accomplishing Centralized Procurement of Medical Equipment in Public Healthcare Institutions”. The bank anticipates that leading medical device segment companies with strong product strength may be expected to continue to increase their market share. In terms of exports, the segment represented by surgical robots accelerated global commercial sales during the 2025-1H26 period. This type of segment, which has the logic of going overseas and continues to be implemented, is also worth paying attention to.

CICC's main views are as follows:

Implement hierarchical procurement arrangements according to the characteristics of medical equipment

The document mentioned that Class A large-scale medical equipment (mainly high-end radiotherapy equipment) was included in the centralized procurement catalogue of national departments and continued to be organized by the National Health Commission; Class B large-scale medical equipment (including PET/MR, PET/CT, laparoscopic surgery systems, and conventional radiotherapy equipment) was included in the centralized procurement catalogue of provincial departments. Furthermore, in terms of the pace of implementation, the document specifically mentions that all regions need to complete a round of centralized procurement of Class B large-scale medical equipment by the end of 2026, and determine at least 1 city to launch a pilot centralized procurement of medical equipment and complete a round of centralized procurement by the end of June 2027.

Procurement principles emphasize appropriate technology, priority quality, and reasonable price, and domestic imports of high-end medical equipment products will replace or accelerate

The document clearly mentions that key factors such as quality, price, and service should be included in procurement evaluation criteria, and that high quality and high prices should be implemented. It is necessary not only to give full play to the economies of scale in centralized procurement and squeeze out price moisture, but also to strengthen the concept of full life cycle costs, take into account the needs of consumables, maintenance, etc., and scientifically select review methods to prevent “internal rolling” competition. The bank believes that previously, only internal procurement practices based on the low price theory may have gradually been cleared, and that “technical points” such as differentiation and good performance of high-end medical equipment products are expected to receive equal attention in procurement activities. The bank expects that leading segmented medical equipment companies with strong product strength may be expected to continue to increase their market share. It is recommended to focus on Mindray Healthcare, Lianying Healthcare, etc. that already have a high-end product layout in the segment.

Simultaneously focus on the potential and opportunities of medical equipment going overseas to expand globally

The bank believes that products that are cost-effective and can match the performance of international brands have continued to stand out in recent years. The commercialization space for such products is expanding from meeting domestic demand to the global market, and their core attributes are gradually expanding from “cost items” of capital expenses of top domestic payers to “revenue generation items” of global trade sales. The bank believes that segments represented by surgical robots will accelerate global commercial sales during the 2025-1H26 period, and that these segments that have the logic of going overseas and continue to be implemented are also worthy of attention.

risk

The price suppression of procurement has exceeded expectations, the domestic clinical terminal procurement budget is insufficient, and overseas commercialization expansion is not going well.