My country's medical device industry has an average annual growth rate of 20%, and there is a shortage of professional talents

"At present, the market scale of my country's medical device industry is about 400 billion yuan, and it is increasing at an annual rate of 20%. It is a veritable sunrise industry." Fan Yubo, Chairman of the Chinese Society of Biomedical Engineering Said at the General Assembly.

The conference with the theme of "Technology for Health" was held in Beijing from May 26th to 31st. Top experts, scholars and scientific researchers from medical device companies from more than 80 countries and regions in the field of biomedical engineering were invited to participate.

"Here, we learn new knowledge, form new hypotheses, plan new experiments, develop new health care technologies. At the same time, we build and promote friendship." said Dr. Herbert-Itt, chairman of the International Federation of Medicine and Bioengineering.

Biomedical engineering is a new interdisciplinary integrating biology, medicine, engineering and other disciplines, and it is a powerful driving force for the development of modern medicine. From sphygmomanometers to surgical robots, they are closely related to people’s lives.Biomedical engineering originated in Europe and America. In recent years, Asia, especially China, has rapidly emerged as an important force in this field. "Only the migration from the venue of the conference can reflect the importance and improvement of biomedical engineering in Asia in China." said Dr. Barry Allen, chairman of the International Federation of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering.

Professor Yubo Fan said that at present, more than 70% of my country's high-end medical devices rely on imports, of which high-end knee joints and pacemakers are almost 100% dependent on imports.

"We haven't completely bid farewell to the history of'a train of syringe for an MRI machine', importing high-end equipment and exporting low-end products. But we should see that with the efforts in recent years, my country's medical equipment import and export structure is being optimized. More and more mid-range products are joining the ranks of exports." Fan Yubo said.

Take Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. as an example. Since its listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006, it has insisted on investing 10% of its annual sales in research and development. Now the products are exported to 196 countries and regions around the world, and overseas sales account for more than 60% of the company's annual sales.

At present, my country has 15,000 medical device companies for production and more than 300,000 for marketing. The rapid development of the industry has a strong demand for professional talents.

"More and more universities in our country have established this major. Because of the need to closely follow the frontiers of biology, chemistry, materials and other disciplines, the training of professional talents is an urgent task." Fan Yubo said