(Yicai) Nov. 8 -- Foreign companies have begun production of their medical equipment in China thanks to the improvement of the local industrial capacity. Meanwhile, their Chinese peers are expanding into overseas markets, Yicai learned at this year's China International Import Expo.

Dutch electronics giant Philips brought a new computed tomography product with greatly improved accuracy of diagnostic imaging at the CIIE, which is held in Shanghai between Nov. 5 and Nov. 10.

The new CT is manufactured in two production bases in the world, one in Israel and one in Suzhou, China's eastern Jiangsu province, with the latter accounting for over 70 percent of the total capacity, the head of Philips' imaging equipment department told Yicai at the CIIE. Moreover, more than 90 percent of the new product's parts are produced in China, they noted.

Philips' new CT has twice the image scanning speed of conventional equipment and a service life of three to five years, the person added. After localization, models of the product are priced between several millions of Chinese yuan and CNY10 million (several hundred thousands of US dollars and USD1.4 million), significantly reducing hospitals' expenses.

CTs made at the Suzhou factory sell well in Japan, South Korea, India, and Southeast Asian countries. Some are also sold in the United States and Europe, the person said.

Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System, which has been on display at each of the six editions of the CIIE, obtained the medical device production license from Chinese regulators in August and started production in the country last month.

"We changed the interface language of domestic robots from English to Chinese so that Chinese doctors can operate them more easily," the head of the da Vinci Surgical System business at Intuitive Surgical-Fosun Medical Technology Shanghai told Yicai at the CIIE. “Meanwhile, technical indicators, such as image transmission, picture accuracy, and mechanical sensing, are the same as those in imported robots.”

Intuitive Surgical-Fosun Medical Technology Shanghai is the joint venture between Chinese pharmaceutical giant Fosun Pharma and US medical surgical robots titan Intuitive Surgical. The JV is committed to producing Intuitive Surgical's surgical robots in China.

Chinese Medical Equipment Land Overseas

The smart vaccine refrigerator independently developed by China's Haier Biomedical has been exported to many African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Congo.

"Our products can help African users solve the problem of poor vaccine storage environment caused by the unstable local power supply," Haieri Biomedical's Product Manager Gong Weisan told Yicai at the CIIE.

"During the CIIE, trading teams from Vietnam, Peru, and other countries also showed interest in our smart vaccine storage solutions," Gong added.

Haier Biomedical provided the Nigerian health department with a complete set of services for the smart vaccine refrigerators, from distribution and installation to follow-up maintenance, which also covered some remote areas, Gong said, noting that the company also set up a public health training center in Nigeria to teach professional vaccination skills and knowledge to local medical staff.

Chinese smart healthcare and integrated medical solutions provider Cobio Smart Healthcare Technology sold its products to Thailand, the Philippines, the US, and Brazil, Sun Kejia, the company's operating director for research, development, and sale of cell morphology detection equipment, told Yicai.

"We will develop different types of equipment according to the special needs of different countries," Sun pointed out. "For example, the Philippines' health department favors small, light equipment and consumables that do not need cold chain transport because of the country's scattered population and small sample size, so our products must match their requirements."

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione