GTHT Securities released a research report stating that the 2025 equipment renewal policy has been implemented as scheduled, with the annual procurement scale for medical devices showing rapid year-on-year growth. According to data from ZC DataTech, on a single-month year-on-year basis, the bidding scale for new equipment in December 2025 saw MR decline by 11.8%, CT by 7.3%, DR by 3.9%, ultrasound by 1.3%, while endoscopes grew by 1.4%, and surgical robots declined by 23.9%. The firm maintains an "Overweight" rating. It recommends medical device companies that are expected to benefit from the policy implementation and see an earnings recovery.
The main views of GTHT Securities are as follows: The 2025 equipment renewal policy has landed on schedule, driving rapid year-on-year growth in the full-year medical device procurement scale. Based on ZC DataTech data, the December 2025 new equipment bidding volume saw MR drop 11.8% YoY, CT fall 7.3%, DR decrease 3.9%, ultrasound dip 1.3%, while endoscopes grew 1.4%, and surgical robots plunged 23.9%. On a cumulative year-on-year basis for the full year 2025, the new equipment bidding scale for the first 12 months showed MR growth of 31.4%, CT growth of 53.2%, DR growth of 53.2%, ultrasound growth of 42.3%, endoscope growth of 16.3%, and surgical robot growth of 21.9%.
Analyzing the monthly year-on-year performance by company, in December 2025, United Imaging's MR declined by 17.4%, while its CT grew by 17.4%; Mindray's ultrasound grew by 13.8%; SonoScape's ultrasound fell by 13.5%, but its endoscopes surged by 61.1%; and Aohua Photoelectric's endoscopes increased by 9.4%. Looking at the cumulative year-on-year figures by company for the full year 2025, United Imaging's MR grew 15.6%, its CT grew 47.7%; Mindray's ultrasound grew 56.3%; SonoScape's ultrasound grew 69.7%, its endoscopes grew 85.0%; and Aohua Photoelectric's endoscopes grew 24.4%.
The continuous implementation of the equipment renewal policy is expected to drive medical device procurement levels over a long cycle. In 2024, a joint notice issued by four ministries, the "Implementation Plan for Promoting Equipment Renewal in the Healthcare Sector," clearly set a target for healthcare sector equipment investment to increase by over 25% by 2027 compared to 2023, aiming to elevate high-end equipment configuration to the level of upper-middle-income countries. Furthermore, throughout 2024, various provinces and cities across China announced substantial procurement plans for domestic medical equipment renewal projects. Since 2025, the state-promoted large-scale equipment renewal has gradually become normalized and specialized, significantly boosting the procurement enthusiasm of medical institutions at all levels and rapidly unleashing demand for upgrading innovative diagnostic and treatment equipment such as imaging and radiotherapy.
Policy stimulus is effectively reviving the domestic market, with equipment manufacturers reaching an inflection point in their performance. Alongside continued macroeconomic policy support for民生 (livelihood) and technological innovation sectors, the gradual implementation of the medical equipment renewal policy has released more ample procurement demand from domestic medical institutions. Driven by progressive policy implementation and recovering medical demand, the Chinese market is showing a stable and improving development trend. In the first three quarters of 2025, United Imaging Healthcare's domestic market revenue reached 6.866 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 23.70%, fully reflecting the recovery and structural upgrade trend in the domestic medical equipment industry.
Risk warnings include a slower-than-expected recovery in equipment procurement, delays in policy implementation, and risks associated with product price fluctuations.
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