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China to be frozen out of big EU medtech tenders for five years
EU members vote to exclude Chinese firms from tendering processes for five-year period.
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Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
European Union member states voted on Monday to restrict access to the bloc’s vast procurement markets for Chinese medical device manufacturers in response to Beijing’s refusal to open its own tenders to EU firms.
Chinese firms will be blocked from EU tenders worth more than €5 million (US$5.2 million) for a five-year period in what marks the first use of the bloc’s international procurement instrument (IPI).
The move comes after fruitless negotiations on market access with the Chinese government, and could be implemented within weeks, once EU commissioners give the final sign-off.
The vote could add another layer of tension before the sides’ trade chiefs meet on Tuesday. Maros Sefcovic and Wang Wentao were expected to see each other on the margins of an Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial conference in Paris, with a meeting slated for 4.30pm, EU sources said.
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Sources said they were expected to attend a dinner gathering of “influential” trade ministers organised by the World Trade Organization director general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
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