China has barred European companies from major Chinese government medical device contracts, hitting back against similar EU restrictions imposed on Chinese firms last month. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said that European Union companies without operations in China were excluded from government medical device contracts valued at more than CNY45 million, effective immediately. The restriction does not apply to EU-funded companies operating in China. Non-EU companies taking part in such government tenders must not allocate more than half of the total contract value to importing medical devices from the EU. The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said the move was a last resort, after Beijing had “repeatedly expressed through bilateral dialogues its willingness to resolve the differences through consultation and arrangements on government procurement”. “Despite China’s goodwill and sincerity, the EU has persisted in taking restrictive measures and building new protectionist barriers,” it said. The restrictions do not apply to projects in which only EU-imported medical devices can meet the procurement requirements.
In June, the EU barred Chinese medical device companies from bidding for public tenders worth more than €5 million for five years. It followed a European Commission investigation, which concluded in January that there was “clear evidence of China limiting access by EU medical device producers to its government contracts in an unfair and discriminatory way”.
China and the EU are scheduled to hold a summit this month in Beijing, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. In preparation for the meeting, both sides have been addressing trade disputes, ranging from electric vehicles (EV) to cognac. The “technical” part of negotiations towards resolving the EV dispute had been finalized, with only the final step remaining, Yuyuan Tantian, a social media account affiliated with CCTV, reported. It said the deal now hinged on “political will” from the European side. But tensions have been on the rise between China and the EU. China also announced that it would impose anti-dumping tariffs on European brandy, which is mostly produced in France. The tariffs of up to 34.9% would last for five years, the South China Morning Post reports.
