China expands surgical device bulk purchases in bid to cut healthcare costs

BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese health authorities have completed another round of bulk purchases of medical supplies, a move aimed at lowering costs for hospitals and patients across the country.

The National Healthcare Security Administration on Wednesday announced the results of its sixth national bulk procurement program for high-value medical consumables. The latest round included, for the first time, key devices for urinary stone surgery and expanded the range of covered cardiovascular tools. A total of 440 products from 202 manufacturers were selected.

"The previous stent procurement lowered costs for patients. The inclusion of drug-coated balloons will benefit even more people," said Song Xiantao, vice president of Beijing Friendship Hospital.

He explained that drug-coated balloons are used when a previously implanted vascular stent becomes clogged again or when a blood vessel is too small for a stent. All 42 such products from 32 manufacturers were selected in this round.

The program also marked a first for medical devices used in urinary stone removal surgeries, procuring 398 products, such as ureteral guidewires and balloon dilation catheters, from 170 manufacturers. The inclusion of these products means the core tools needed for the most common kidney and urinary tract stone surgeries, which previously had a gap in national procurement, are now covered, experts said.

"Previously, minimally invasive stone surgery could cost between 20,000 and 30,000 yuan (about 2,852 to 4,278 U.S. dollars). The bulk procurement is expected to reduce the overall treatment cost for stone diseases," said Li Jun, a chief physician of the urology department at Beijing Friendship Hospital.

The procurement rules were designed to prevent excessively low bids while encouraging innovation.

"To avoid unfairly low bids, the program did not simply use the lowest price as the benchmark," said Lu Yun, a pharmaceutical pricing expert at China Pharmaceutical University. A "revival" mechanism was also added to give more manufacturers a chance to win bids, she added.

To date, the government's bulk procurement program has expanded to cover 142 types of medical consumables across nine major categories, including cardiology, orthopedics, ophthalmology and urology.

As part of its broader efforts to make healthcare more affordable, China has regularly used centralized procurement to negotiate lower prices for medical equipment and drugs. Patients are expected to begin accessing the latest batch of lower-priced devices around May 2026, according to the administration.