Other BriefingsChina’s Medical Device Industry – Why Beijing is the Place to Invest
China’s medical device industry is evolving fast, and Beijing is at the center of the transformation. As the city accelerates investment in AI healthcare, innovative medical technologies, and high-end manufacturing, foreign companies are racing to secure a foothold in one of the country’s most dynamic medtech ecosystems. Learn where the opportunities lie, which sectors are attracting investment, and how businesses can position themselves for success.
Beijing’s medical device sector is becoming a strategic priority as the city strives to become a global hub for advanced manufacturing and scientific innovation. The municipal government has designated the sector as a strategic priority and given officials a clear mandate to develop the necessary infrastructure and policies to attract investment, with an official target to grow the industry to over RMB 50 billion (US$7.4 billion) under a dedicated 2024–2026 Action Plan.
Beyond growing the overall industry scale, the city is striving to achieve technological and scientific breakthroughs and cultivate a series of cutting-edge products that will define the next generation of medical technology, making it an attractive destination for companies seeking to push the boundaries of the industry’s development.
Beijing as a global hub for medical device innovation
Beijing has long had the infrastructure in place to foster an innovative medical device industry. The city is home to several research hospitals, many of which have dedicated clinical trial institutions and wards, such as the Beijing Anding Hospital, the Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, and the Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH).
In recent years, the government has also established a range of science parks dedicated to fostering the pharmaceutical and medtech sectors. Under the 2024–2026 Action Plan, the government is seeking to develop “a group of specialized, high-end, and high-quality medical device industrial parks” that excel in niche fields within the medical device industry by optimizing infrastructure, integrating resources, enhancing support services and facilities, and strengthening professional technical service capabilities. These parks include:
- Daxing Zhongguancun High-end Medical Device Park: focused on diagnostic reagents and medical robotics, as well as upstream and downstream supporting facilities such as laboratory animal services and testing/inspection capabilities.
- Changping International Medical Device City: focused on the full chain from pilot testing and incubation to production and exhibition, across segments including implantable devices, in-vitro diagnostics (IVD), biomaterials, and medical aesthetics devices.
- BDA Medical Device Park: focused on commercialization and acceleration of medical devices, built around the six National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) centers, with an emphasis on integrated large/medium/small enterprise ecosystems and third-party professional services.
- Haidian Medical Device Industrial Cluster: focused on original innovation commercialization in brain-computer interfaces, digital therapeutics, AI-assisted diagnosis, and organoids, drawing on university and research institute spinouts.
- Chaoyang Digital Medical Industry Cluster: focused on digital medicine and smart medical equipment, integrating new generation IT with pharma and health, with shared platforms for incubation and commercialization of digital medical enterprises.
- Mentougou Cardiovascular Innovative Drug and Device Industrial Park: focused on cardiovascular devices and drugs, precision radiotherapy equipment, medical isotopes for nuclear medicine, and multi-organ-on-a-chip microsystems, anchored by the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases.
- Shunyi High-end Medical Device Cluster: focused on high-value consumables (vascular/neuro-interventional, orthopaedic implants, oral biomaterials), IVD, high-end medical imaging, and surgical robots/systems.
Beijing’s efforts to cultivate a state-of-the-art industry have already begun to bear fruit: between 2021 and 2024, Beijing accounted for 22 percent of the country’s total approvals of innovative medical devices, with a total of 47, the most of any region of China. In 2025, Beijing was among the regions granting the most approvals for innovative medical devices and AI-powered Class III medical devices – the highest-risk category – in the country.
The city is also consolidating its position as China’s leading hub for innovative and AI-driven medical devices. In 2025 alone, seven innovative medical devices were approved locally, bringing the cumulative total to 79 and accounting for nearly a quarter of the national total. It also leads the country in AI medical devices and surgical robots, with a total of 48 AI medical devices and 33 surgical robots approved for market as of mid-2025, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.
Why is the sector attractive for foreign companies?
Beijing’s efforts to grow the medical device industry create a myriad of new opportunities for foreign businesses and investors seeking market entry or expansion.
The focus on research and innovation, in particular, makes Beijing an attractive destination for companies seeking to expand their R&D and innovation capabilities. The city is increasingly positioning itself as a hub for several niche and emerging sectors within the medtech industry, such as AI-powered medical devices, surgical robots, intelligent diagnostics and treatment products, BCIs, and biomaterials.
These innovation ambitions are underpinned by a robust infrastructure that combines research and educational institutions, upstream supply sectors, manufacturing facilities, distribution and commercialization networks, and professional services and financing ecosystems, together spanning the full medical device value chain from early-stage R&D through to market entry.
This extensive network of dedicated industry clusters provides new entrants with a clear path to integrating into an established ecosystem, making it easier to identify and connect with the suppliers, partners, and distributors needed to get operations off the ground. This cluster structure also enables a more streamlined pathway from R&D to clinical trials to regulatory approval and production. Crucially, Beijing’s clusters are highly specialized, with dedicated zones focusing on areas such as digital medtech and cardiovascular devices, meaning even companies operating in niche segments can benefit from a holistic, sector-specific ecosystem.
Beijing is also home to a growing and increasingly skilled industry talent pool thanks to the local medical universities and their collaboration with research hospitals, most notably the renowned Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). Together with its extensive clinical research resources run out of its network of leading hospitals and clinical institutions, the city offers ample opportunities for collaboration and clinical trials, facilitating clinical validation for innovative devices and medtech.
As part of these ambitions, Beijing is also actively seeking to attract foreign investment to the medical device industry, efforts that are backed by both local and national policy mandates. The city’s 2024–2025 Action Plan calls for “attracting more than five leading global medical device companies to establish headquarters or core R&D and manufacturing operations in Beijing”. Meanwhile, foreign investment into certain fields is also encouraged under the national Catalogue of Encouraged Industries for Foreign Investment. Companies investing in fields in this catalogue can benefit from certain preferential policies, including customs duty exemptions for imported equipment for self-use, priority access to industrial land, and tax credits for reinvestments.
The main entries related to medical devices in the 2025 edition of the encouraged catalogue are:
- Operation of third-party technical service platforms is required for the R&D and production of drugs and medical devices;
- Production and processing of novel medical devices and medical materials; and
- R&D and manufacturing of smart health and elderly care products, including medical devices and rehabilitation aids for the elderly.
The city also offers a conducive regulatory environment, with agencies such as the Biomaterials Innovation and Cooperation Platform established to foster the development of innovative biomaterials and medical devices and help resolve critical chokepoints facing the sector, while streamlining the pipeline from R&D to clinical trials. The country’s national industry regulators and policymakers also primarily operate out of Beijing, giving companies in the city more direct access to regulatory expertise and support resources that can help navigate product registration, clinical evaluation, and commercialization processes.
Who can grow in Beijing’s medical device industry?
Foreign medtech companies focused on products such as surgical robotics, AI diagnostics, imaging, brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), and other innovative fields will find Beijing a compelling investment destination thanks to its combination of specialist parks, world-class research infrastructure and resources, and a growing pool of skilled industry talent. Several multinationals have already established R&D facilities or partnerships in Beijing, including Novo Nordisk, which has a research facility in the Zhongguancun Life Sciences Park, and Bayer Pharmaceuticals, which recently extended its research partnership with Tsinghua University. The BCI sector has also attracted investment from global giants such as Pfizer, Danaher, AstraZeneca, Bayer Pharmaceuticals, MSD, and Medtronic.
Meanwhile, life sciences investors and PE or VC funds seeking to expand their portfolios in the Chinese medical device market may also find ample opportunities, in particular as the number of SMEs in the space grows.
Beyond R&D, companies seeking medical device contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) for both domestic consumption and export can find ample offerings in Beijing. The city leads in advanced manufacturing, with a strong digital and intelligent manufacturing base that includes 27 national-level green factories and 20 advanced-level smart factories.5 GE Healthcare’s Beijing facility became the first “lighthouse factory” in the domestic medical equipment sector, an official designation of world-class smart manufacturing standards.
There are also opportunities in smart elderly care and rehabilitation devices, a niche sector that is receiving active government support due to China’s rapidly aging population. Companies operating in this space can therefore benefit from both policy tailwinds, including dedicated encouraged industry status, and expanding domestic demand.
Finally, foreign firms in upstream and downstream industries, such as biomaterials, specialized software, and precision components, can leverage the industry’s growth by slotting into Beijing’s expanding medical device supply chain, where a scaling cluster of domestic and multinational manufacturers is increasing demand for specialist inputs.
How can foreign investors enter the market?
While the sector is rich with opportunity, entering the medical device market in Beijing requires a thorough understanding of the competitive landscape and the regulatory environment.
China allows 100 percent foreign ownership of companies in the medical device industry, but there are nonetheless a range of regulatory requirements and approval processes that investors must navigate, including product registration with the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), manufacturing site licensing, and compliance with China’s evolving standards for AI-enabled and software-based medical devices.
Companies looking to enter the market should take the following steps to assess their position and readiness:
- Review encouraged industry eligibility under China’s foreign investment catalogue to determine whether current or planned operations qualify for preferential treatment.
- Audit the domestic competitive landscape in the target product category to assess which fields may be saturated by domestic players, and monitor the NMPA pipeline for AI medical device and surgical robot approvals that signal where domestic competition is maturing fastest.
- For companies seeking production facilities, assess manufacturing standards and capabilities to ensure alignment with production objectives and cost requirements.
- For companies exploring advanced or intelligent manufacturing options, evaluate whether prospective facilities have the digital infrastructure, automation capability, and systems integration required to support the required smart production processes.
- Map the industrial park landscape and assess which specialized zones best align with research, manufacturing, or other objectives.
- Evaluate partnership and JV opportunities with domestic players, particularly where local clinical data, distribution networks, or manufacturing relationships can accelerate market entry.
Additionally, investors and PE/VC funds looking to invest in local companies can explore the possibility of establishing a Qualified Foreign Limited Partner (QFLP) fund in Beijing, which will enable participation in RMB-denominated investment vehicles and broaden access to domestic deals.
Getting started in Beijing’s medical device industry
The policy architecture and competitive landscape in Beijing’s medical device industry are moving quickly, and whether you are evaluating a first entry or expanding an existing operation, there is a strong case for acting sooner rather than later.
Determining the possibilities also requires evaluating the specifics of your product category, corporate structure, and investment timeline, as these will determine which entry routes, incentives, and operational models are most relevant to your situation. What works for a multinational establishing a regional R&D hub will look very different from a foreign SME seeking a CMO relationship.
Speaking with an advisor familiar with both the regulatory and commercial landscape in Beijing is a practical starting point. Dezan Shira & Associates has extensive experience supporting foreign businesses across the full investment lifecycle in China, from initial market entry strategy to corporate establishment to ongoing compliance and operational support. Get in touch with our local team to discuss your options to enter Beijing’s medical device industry.
With the region’s rapid economic growth and diverse regulatory environments, businesses must navigate shifting costs, complex compliance frameworks, and conflicting information. Our professionals support investors with actionable data on Asia’s industrial landscape, location analysis, supply chain diversification, and market entry strategy. We also offer business partner matching services and assist in identifying optimal investment destinations through cross-country competitiveness benchmarking.
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China Briefing is one of five regional Asia Briefing publications. It is supported by Dezan Shira & Associates, a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm that assists foreign investors throughout Asia, including through offices in Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Zhongshan, Shenzhen, and Hong Kong in China. Dezan Shira & Associates also maintains offices or has alliance partners assisting foreign investors in Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Mongolia, Dubai (UAE), Japan, South Korea, Nepal, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Italy, Germany, Bangladesh, Australia, United States, and United Kingdom and Ireland.
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