(Yicai) Nov. 22 -- The Chinese medical instruments and apparatus industry ranked second worldwide by revenue after the United States last year, according to a recent official report.

China's medical device industry grew at a compound annual growth rate of 10 percent in the past decade, achieving revenue of CNY1.31 trillion (USD180.8 billion) last year, according to a report released by the National Medical Products Administration's Institute of Medical Economics at the 2024 Medical Device Economic Information Conference held in Shanghai on Nov. 19 and 20.

As of June 30, China had over 32,800 medical instruments and apparatus companies, more than doubling the figure in 2014, the report showed. Medical device operators exceeded 1.4 million, reaching an average annual compound growth rate of 24.6 percent over the past 10 years.

The Chinese medical device industry is not only characterized by a fast-growing momentum but also by the sustained winning of sales approvals for innovative products. So far this year, 51 innovative medical instruments and apparatus were approved for marketing, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the report.

Since 2014, a total of 301 new innovative medical device permits have been issued, including devices made of biomaterials, medical-use robots, medical imaging tools, artificial intelligence medical devices, and brain-computer interfaces, the report also showed.

Fast review, assessment, and approval regulations are being formulated for the above innovative products, with the elaboration of detailed execution rules already underway, an official at the NMPA's medical device review center for East China told Yicai.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione