Statement on China’s Restrictive Measures on Medical Device Imports from the EU In Government Procurement Go back »

2025-07-07 | All chapters

The European Chamber is deeply concerned by the announcement, as it marks a further escalation of EU-China trade tensions at a time when European businesses are hoping for a resolution to many long-standing issues and a deepening of EU-China ties.

The announcement also lacks specificity, increasing the uncertainty faced by European companies operating in China, and raising the risk that local government authorities—responsible for issuing public tenders—may enforce the measure in an overly stringent manner that excludes even highly localised European medical device manufacturers from bidding for contracts.

Although yesterday’s notice states that European-invested enterprises in China (在华欧资企业) are to be exempt from the restriction, no guidelines have been issued clarifying what constitutes a ‘European-invested enterprise’. It also does not specify how companies’ country of origin is defined, or how the CNY 45 million threshold detailed in the measure will be determined. Furthermore, it is unclear whether volume-based procurement tenders—which typically exceed CNY 45 million in value—fall within scope.

The European Chamber is reaching out to relevant Chinese government stakeholders to raise these concerns, and encourages the EU and China to engage in constructive dialogue to identify feasible solutions.

For more information please contact