China strengthens regulation of medical equipment for export

China has been enhancing the supervision of export medical equipment for epidemic control, according to the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).

The administration has established lists of key medical equipment manufacturers to supervise them to optimize their profiles of export products for more effective management of the export process, said Wang Shucai, an official with the NMPA at a press conference.

All provincial-level administrations were urged to further standardize export sales certificates. No export certificate shall be issued without registration certificates and production licenses for medical devices in China, Wang said.

Meanwhile, inspections of key enterprises have also been intensified. Production of the companies must be stopped immediately for rectification as long as their export products are proven to be defective, according to the official.

Wang also noted that a special work team was jointly set up with the State Administration for Market Regulation to carry out on-site inspections in five provinces or cities with large medical equipment exports.

As of April 24, as many as 10,307 inspectors were sent to 1,216 medical device manufacturers that have started or were preparing to start exporting for quality checks, examining samples of 417 batches of products, Wang said.