When the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the globe in 2020, Li Xiting, chairman of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, received phone calls from at least five ambassadors, requesting him to supply medical devices like ventilators.
“I didn’t know how they got my phone number, but these urgent orders from overseas are proof of our products’ outstanding quality,” Li told reporters during a recent research tour at Mindray’s headquarters in Nanshan District.
While supporting the fight against the global health crisis, the medical equipment supplier redefined “Made in China” to a wider population. It received medical device demands from over 100 countries and regions and delivered more than 500,000 units of anti-pandemic medical equipment globally by the end of 2020.
Behind these figures lies Mindray’s decades-long persistence: Quality is the core rooted in the whole product life cycle, which starts from research and development (R&D) to post-market surveillance.
In the 1980s, the medical equipment market was dominated by three key players: General Electric, Koninklijke Philips, and Siemens Healthineers (GPS).
Mindray, founded in 1991, made a bold decision to break up the monopoly of foreign corporations in the Chinese market and begin its journey of independent R&D. Two years later, it launched China’s first self-developed multi-parameter patient monitor, which was well received in the market with its easy-to-use functionality and cost-effective pricing. The company has invested heavily, about 10% of its revenue, in R&D over the past three decades.
After stepping up on international expansion in 1999, Mindray demanded higher on itself. “To sell products to Europe and the U.S., we need to follow the advanced economies’ stricter standards, such as that of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” Li said.
Since the medical equipment sector is multidisciplinary and highly dependent on the supply chain, Mindray adopts strict supplier evaluation and collaborative quality control to ensure high-quality supplies, ranging from a lead plate to ventilator wheels. “We must guarantee the quality of every complete equipment, but also every little part of the components, otherwise any quality problem would be fatal,” he added.
Mindray’s unremitting efforts to manufacture products with international competitiveness have paid off, as it has become China’s home-grown alternative to GPS and other imported brands. It ranks at the top of China’s market share of monitors, ventilators, defibrillators, anesthesia, infusion pumps, hematology and biochemical devices.
At present, Mindray’s products and services are widely adopted in over 190 countries and regions, and can be found in nearly 110,000 medical institutions and 99% of tertiary hospitals in China, top 20 hospitals in the U.S. and over 660 teaching hospitals in Europe.
“It’s time for the health care industry to provide better health care for more people,” Li stressed during the interview.
“With high-quality products, we strive to benefit downstream firms and hospitals, provide affordable devices for more patients and safeguard human health,” he said.