China’s seventh national centralized procurement round for high-value medical consumables has produced its proposed winning results.

The procurement focuses on gastrointestinal interventional consumables. A total of 156 companies submitted bids involving 558 products, with 148 companies and 517 products proposed for selection.

The procurement covers 23 product categories used in gastrointestinal interventional procedures, including products for dilation, access, injection, stone retrieval, hemostasis and stent placement.

The results are expected to be implemented in January 2027.

GI Interventional Products Enter National Centralized Procurement

The seventh national procurement round brings a broad range of gastrointestinal interventional consumables into national centralized procurement.

The included products cover multiple stages of endoscopic diagnosis and treatment, involving clinical scenarios such as biliary and pancreatic stone treatment, gastrointestinal polyps and tumors, gastrointestinal bleeding and luminal stenosis.

The 23 product categories include gastrointestinal balloon dilation catheters, gastrointestinal guidewires, injection needles, stone-retrieval baskets, esophageal and intestinal stents, and biliary and pancreatic duct stents.

Compared with previous procurement rounds involving a smaller number of major consumables, this round covers a wider range of products used throughout gastrointestinal interventional procedures.

Three Major Categories Cover Key GI Interventional Products

The 23 products can be broadly divided according to their clinical applications, covering commonly used consumables for gastrointestinal endoscopic procedures.

Among them, several categories have relatively large clinical demand.

Gastrointestinal injection needles, for example, have annual clinical demand exceeding 2 million units. A total of 32 companies participated in bidding for this category, with 28 proposed for selection.

For stone-retrieval baskets, 69 companies participated and 64 were proposed for selection.

Products with differentiated functions, including covered intestinal stents and multistage dilation balloon catheters, were also included in the proposed winning list.

148 Companies Proposed for Selection, Covering Most Participating Manufacturers

A total of 156 companies participated in this procurement round.

Of these, 148 were proposed for selection, while 517 of the 558 submitted products entered the proposed winning list.

Both Chinese and multinational medical device companies are represented among the proposed winners.

Domestic manufacturers have expanded their presence across multiple gastrointestinal interventional product categories, including guidewires, injection needles, retrieval devices, dilation products and stents.

According to publicly available procurement data, domestic brands ranked first in reported first-year procurement demand in 13 of the 23 product categories.

Pricing Rules Change: This Round Is Not Simply About the Lowest Bid

One of the major changes in this procurement round is the adjustment of the pricing mechanism.

The seventh national procurement introduces a “dual-anchor” mechanism intended to reduce the influence of exceptionally low bids on the overall competitive benchmark.

Under the new rules, bids that are significantly lower than the average are treated differently when the benchmark price is calculated.

Products priced below a specified lower threshold may still qualify for selection, but they will not receive committed procurement volume.

Six products triggered this rule in the latest procurement round.

This design reduces the incentive for companies to rely solely on extreme price cuts to secure a place in the procurement program.

Competitive Groups Become More Refined

The latest procurement round also makes further adjustments to competitive grouping.

Products are grouped according to factors including procurement demand, supply capacity and product characteristics.

The purpose is to avoid placing products with significantly different clinical use patterns or market conditions into the same competitive group.

The procurement rules also provide more than one pathway for products to qualify for selection, rather than relying on a single price ranking.

This gives products with established clinical demand a route to remain available while maintaining price competition among suppliers.

What Changes After Winning the Tender?

For medical device companies, entering the proposed winning list does not mean that sales volume is automatically secured.

Actual procurement volume will still depend on hospital demand, physician preferences, product specifications, handling characteristics, supply stability and commercial service capabilities.

This is particularly important in gastrointestinal intervention, where the performance and operating characteristics of products such as guidewires, stents, retrieval baskets and dilation devices can directly affect physician choice.

Companies included in the proposed winning list will also need to fulfill procurement commitments after implementation and ensure stable product supply.

The seventh national high-value medical consumables procurement round is expected to be implemented in January 2027.

September 11, 2026