China Healthcare: Device VBP: #6: Capital Equipment VBP Kicks Off; Faster Category B Rollout but Emphasis on Reasonable Pricing

Research evidence excerpt

China Healthcare: Device VBP: #6: Capital Equipment VBP Kicks Off; Faster Category B Rollout but Emphasis on Reasonable Pricing

Equity Research

16 July 2026 | 5:58PM HKT

China Healthcare: Device VBP: #6: Capital Equipment VBP Kicks Off;

Faster Category B Rollout but Emphasis on Reasonable Pricing

On July 14, the government released a notice on capital equipment VBP (see the Chris Pan, CFA

+852-2978-7993 | chris.pan@gs.com

notice here). The requirement to complete at least one procurement round for Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C.

Category B equipment by year-end 2026 came earlier than expected, implying a Ziyi Chen

faster rollout of detailed provincial procurement rules over the coming months. +852-2978-0526Goldman Sachs (Asia)| ziyi.chen@gs.comL.L.C.

Meanwhile, the notice emphasizes reasonable pricing, technological Tianyi Yan

appropriateness, product quality, and total life cycle costs—including consumables +86(21)2401-8609tianyi.yan@goldmansachs.cn|

and maintenance—rather than focusing solely on upfront equipment prices. GoldmanCompany SachsLimited(China) Securities

Michael ZhengOverall, the notice is broadly consistent with our previous expectations +86(21)2401-8928 |

regarding the scope of equipment VBP, given the continued pressure on local michael.zheng@goldmansachs.cnGoldman Sachs (China) Securities

government finances and hospital balance sheets through 2025. The fragmented Company Limited

nature of equipment procurement and the lack of unified national standards make

provincial-level VBP more feasible than a centrally coordinated national rollout (see

our previous note). We await further details on the implementation rules to

assess the potential impact on pricing and margins. While the extent of pricing