Commission to assess next steps for tackling discrimination in China's public procurement market for medical devices

A report, highlighting continued discrimination against EU medical devices in China's public procurement market, will inform the Commission's assessment on what measures should be taken to restore the EU-China level playing field in this area.

The report, which outlines the main findings of the first investigation under the EU's International Procurement Instrument (IPI), presents clear evidence of China limiting the access of EU medical devices producers to its government contracts in an unfair and discriminatory way.

The EU remains committed to engaging China in a constructive dialogue aimed at addressing and eliminating the discriminatory measures. However, in the absence of an acceptable solution, the Commission will now carefully assess the possibility of adopting IPI measures. If it finds that such measures are in the EU interest, they could include a restriction on, or exclusion of, Chinese bidders of government contracts in the EU.  

Trade and Economic Security Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (pictured) said:“The European Commission strongly wishes to maintain open, fair and mutually beneficial trade relations with China, including on public procurement. However, openness needs to be reciprocal: government contracts in the EU are open to non-EU countries, and we expect other countries to treat our companies with similar fairness. We have found that China is discriminating against EU medical devices producers in bids for public contracts, and while we continue to prioritise dialogue as a first step to finding solutions, we stand ready to take decisive action to defend the level playing field, and support fair competition.”

More information in the press release available online.

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