EU to restrict access for Chinese medical device suppliers to public procurement

The EU will block access for Chinese medical device economic operators to public contracts worth EUR 5 million or more. Medical devices originating in China may not represent over 50 per cent of the total value of the contract in tenders submitted by other suppliers.

The restrictions will enter into force ten days after the publication of the Commission Regulation, on 30 June 2025. The Regulation will be in force for five years, but the restrictions may be extended for a further five years.

The measures are based on the EU’s International Procurement Instrument (IPI), which entered into force in 2022. The Regulation aims to achieve reciprocity and open up public procurement markets in third countries to EU businesses. If the procurement procedures of a country are found to contain discriminatory measures or practices, the EU may restrict access to EU public procurement procedures for goods, services and tenderers from the country concerned. This is the first time the IPI is being applied. 

In April 2024, the European Commission initiated an investigation into several alleged discriminatory practices in the Chinese market, including: favouring the procurement of domestic devices and services, restricting the procurement of imported goods through administrative measures and imposing unreasonable purchasing terms, such as an obligation to make technology available to the Chinese.

At the same time, the Commission negotiated with China on eliminating and remedying the discriminatory measures and practices, but no acceptable solution was reached.

In a report published in January 2025, the Commission states that China’s measures and practices significantly impair the access of EU businesses and medical devices manufactured in the EU to China’s public procurement market. These measures and practices have been put in place across the entire territory of China, and they affect all medical devices. According to the Commission, 87 per cent of the public procurement procedures for medical devices in China contain terms that restrict or discriminate against the procurement of imported goods.

There are no bilateral commitments on public procurement between the EU and China, and China is not party to the WTO’s plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA).