(Yicai) April 13 -- Foreign medical device companies are adjusting their development strategies for the Chinese market, placing greater emphasis on localized research, development, and production to accelerate cutting-edge product launch and advance local manufacturing.

Canon Medical Systems has achieved localized manufacturing of its products available in China, including computed tomography, digital subtraction angiography, X-ray, and ultrasound systems, Katsuya Takao, president and chief executive officer of Canon Medical Systems China, told Yicai at the 93rd China International Medical Equipment Fair. The firm is now pushing for local production of key components, he added.

For example, Canon Medical's XR imaging system Ultimax-i, the key equipment of the integrated operating room solution for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography jointly developed by Canon Medical and Olympus, which has been adopted by hospitals in multiple Chinese regions, is being manufactured locally.

Clinical demand for ERCP procedures in China is about 800,000 to one million cases a year, according to industry data. But due to technological complexity and uneven resource distribution, there is still a sizable gap between the actual number of ERCP procedures performed and clinical demand.

Foreign medical device companies need to work closely with front-line Chinese clinicians and carry out localized new product development through local research and development teams to launch innovative products that better meet the needs of the Chinese market, Takao noted.

China has long been a key strategic market for Canon Medical, and it will continue to promote localized development by deepening investment and presence in the country in terms of industrial chain collaboration, clinical cooperation, and service systems, Takao said.

The core of Canon Medical's investment and layout in China is to effectively respond to the actual needs of Chinese medical institutions by integrating front-line clinical demand directly into the R&D process, according to Takao.

While promoting high-end products, Canon Medical will apply its core technological capabilities to the development of mid-tier models to better serve primary medical institutions in China, he added.

At this year's CMEF, many other foreign companies highlighted their local manufacturing and R&D capabilities in China.

For example, almost 90 percent of the nearly 50 innovative products and integrated diagnosis and treatment solutions for major diseases displayed by Siemens Healthineers were developed by local innovation teams and were made in the country.

The local production of Siemens Healthineers' two photon-counting CT models is scheduled to officially begin by the end of June, Hao Wang, president of the company's China branch and member of its Global Leadership Council, told Yicai.

GE Healthcare brought more than 50 precision medicine innovations and several ecological partnerships to the CMEF this year, with 12 debut products and 11 new clinical application solutions.

Over 60 percent of GE Healthcare's exhibits were developed by Chinese R&D teams, and 95 percent were made in China. All innovative products that debuted at the fair integrate digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione