The European Union (EU) Commission announced that an investigation was launched for the first time under the International Procurement Mechanism it established.
In the statement, it was pointed out that the investigation was launched in response to China's measures and practices in public procurement, especially in the medical device supply market, and that the country unfairly discriminates against European companies and products in this area.
The statement noted that the evidence gathered revealed that China has closed the medical device supply market to EU and other foreign companies, and that China unfairly discriminates between local and foreign producers in this area.
The statement said that although the EU communicated this situation to the Chinese authorities, it did not receive a satisfactory response or concrete results, and the Commission decided to respond to this situation with a new tender mechanism.
This is the first investigation under the international procurement mechanism established by the EU to prevent countries from unfairly favoring domestic suppliers.
As a result of the investigation, restrictions may be imposed on Chinese medical device companies bidding for public tenders in EU countries.
