The 13th Five-Year Plan for Development identifies high-performance medical devices as a key priority area.

[Global Healthcare Resources] China’s “13th Five-Year Plan for the Pharmaceutical Industry and Healthcare” has been largely finalized and has entered the stage of soliciting public feedback. Key areas of focus will include healthcare IT, high-performance medical devices, and biopharmaceuticals. These three sub-sectors are also slated to receive priority support during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, highlighting significant investment opportunities.

On March 30 this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the “National Plan for the Development of the Medical and Health Service System (2015–2020),” which stated that over the next five years, China will launch the Healthy China Cloud Services Initiative, actively leveraging new technologies such as mobile internet, the Internet of Things, cloud computing, and wearable devices to advance health information services and smart healthcare that benefit the entire population. The plan also aims to promote the application of big data in health care, gradually transform service delivery models, and enhance both service capacity and management standards.

At the 2014 China Health Conference, Zhang Feng, Deputy Director-General of the Planning and Information Department of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, stated that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the healthcare sector will be a key priority in the nation’s drive to advance informationization, and has been incorporated into the national strategic plan for cybersecurity and information technology development.

“Internet Plus Healthcare” will bring transformative changes and new opportunities to the entire health industry. According to statistics, in 2014, global venture capital investment in the internet healthcare sector exceeded US$4.1 billion, a 124% increase over 2013, involving a total of 258 companies. These investments span six major sectors: big data analytics, patient engagement, digital medical devices, telemedicine, personalized medicine, and population health management.

Pharmaceutical e‑commerce is also poised for significant growth opportunities. On May 28, 2014, the State Food and Drug Administration issued the “Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Internet-Based Food and Drug Operations (Draft for Public Comment),” which proposes to permit the online sale of prescription drugs, lower the entry barriers for drug retailers, and allow pharmaceutical e‑commerce platforms to partner with third-party logistics providers. Under the “Internet Plus” strategy, this regulation is expected to be finalized in the near future.

The “Made in China 2015” initiative, released on May 8 this year, identifies the biopharmaceutical sector as a key area for vigorous advancement: “Develop new chemical drugs, traditional Chinese medicines, and biotechnology‑based pharmaceuticals targeting major diseases, with particular emphasis on chemically synthesized drugs featuring novel mechanisms and targets, antibody therapeutics, proteins and peptides of entirely new structures, next‑generation vaccines, innovative traditional Chinese medicines with clear clinical advantages, and personalized therapeutic agents.”

The biopharmaceutical industry encompasses a vast array of specialized subsectors, is highly technology‑driven, and boasts promising prospects. Take precision medicine as an example: on March 26 this year, the Ministry of Science and Technology unveiled China’s Precision Medicine Initiative for the first time, announcing that it would invest 60 billion yuan in this field by 2030.

“Made in China 2025” also calls for “enhancing the innovation capacity and industrialization level of medical devices, with a focus on developing high-performance diagnostic and therapeutic equipment such as imaging systems and medical robots, high-value medical consumables like fully biodegradable vascular stents, and mobile health products including wearable devices and remote diagnosis and treatment services. It aims to achieve breakthroughs and applications in emerging technologies such as bio‑3D printing and induced pluripotent stem cells.”

China’s medical device industry lags behind in technological sophistication due to its late start, low initial conditions, and insufficient R&D investment. At present, the country has approximately 15,000 medical device manufacturers, yet as many as 90% of these enterprises generate annual revenues of less than RMB 20 million.

The 13th Five-Year Plan will represent a major opportunity for the development of high-performance medical devices in China. For medical device manufacturers, the road ahead is a vast blue ocean of possibilities.