A comprehensive analysis of the medical device market and the role of the People’s Republic of China in the industry.

The medical device market is a branch of the healthcare industry, and it has gone unnoticed for a long time because its fundamental role in global and individual healthcare is taken for granted, especially in highly developed countries. The attention on it was dramatically brought back to historical highs during and after the recently overcome COVID-19 pandemic, the worldwide event generated vast interest in producing academic papers with the medical device market as the subject. However, the role of China in the sector and how the country interacts with the industry remains a relatively unexplored section of the literature. This paper aims to act as a handbook on this topic. With this analysis, we delve into the complex landscape of the global medical device market dissecting each aspect of the industry. The notorious economic principles do not solely govern the sector, therefore various aspects need to be taken into account. This comprehensive study goes through these dimensions from the global output to the stakeholders involved, the regulatory framework and how other major forces affect the industry. The peculiarity of this dissertation is the broad attention dedicated to China, its influence in the sector, and how the country manages its domestic medical device market. To achieve these objectives the thesis employs a mixed methods approach, combining the review of quantitative analysis to present data collected from secondary sources with a qualitative and comparative approach to draw an overview of the industry, and China’s contribution. In addition, the other major forces intertwined with the medical device market are considered. Findings reveal that the medical device market is export-oriented and driven by people’s health conditions and technological development. China’s domestic market has grown rapidly after the implementation of several government policies, setting the country to occupy a leading role in export, innovation and harmonization of regulatory frameworks.