Mindray Medical works to redefine 'Made in China'

Mindray Medical ($MR) may be China's largest medical device company. And given increasing overseas business, they are being forced to combat long-held stereotypes about products manufactured in its home country.

David Yin, Mindray's managing director for Europe, told China Daily that despite the company's rapid rise to market primacy, Mindray has had to struggle to convince Western customers of its worth. Setting up shop in Europe and the U.S. is vitally important for any devicemaker looking to do business worldwide, Yin said, as many countries in Latin America and the Middle East won't consider importation if a product isn't cleared in the big markets.

"We had to continuously explain to them that Chinese products are not just cheap exports, but because China has many high-tech companies, it has many highly skilled employees," Yin told the newspaper. "And it has many companies that understand clients' needs and are keen to solve clients' problems."

Over the past few years, however, things have gotten easier. Last year, Mindray brought in $881 million in net revenue, and the company is expecting 18% growth for 2012.

Yin credits Mindray's attractive pricing, well-established products and renowned customer support, but also to China's ongoing economic modernization. Changes in Chinese intellectual property regulations have helped life sciences companies across the country better compete in the world market, Yin said, and he sees Mindray's success as a sign of things to come for the local industry.

"Back in the days when (IP) enforcement was poor, no Chinese company dared to invest in R&D," Yin said. "But now many Chinese companies invest heavily in R&D."

- read the China Daily feature