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　　Over the past two years, driven by the 14th Five-Year Plan, bolstered by local policy support, and favoring domestic procurement, fostering the development of domestically produced instruments has seemingly become a consensus among the government, the market, and the public. In the first half of 2022, both central and local governments paid increased attention to domestic instrumentation: on the one hand, policies encouraged the prioritized purchase of domestic products and strengthened scrutiny and justification for procuring imported goods; on the other hand, regions across the country actively planned and positioned themselves to develop and manufacture high-end instruments, advancing the localization of scientific instrumentation.

　　This article systematically compiles the newly issued domestic‑instrument support policies of 2022, shedding light on the determination and intensity with which various regions are advancing the development of domestically produced instrumentation.

　　Support the procurement of domestically produced instruments.

　　Ministry of Finance

　　On May 23, the Ministry of Finance issued the “Notice on Relevant Issues Concerning the Implementation of Framework Agreement Procurement in Government Procurement.” Notably, the notice clarifies that procurement of imported instruments requires prior approval. With respect to the management of imported products, for specialized equipment used in testing, experimentation, medical care, and other fields, where there is a genuine need to procure imported items, the procurement plan may designate separate procurement packages for such imports. However, before proceeding with the second-stage procurement of pre‑qualified imported products, the procuring entity must, in accordance with applicable regulations, complete the requisite approval procedures.

　　Guangdong Province

　　Taking Guangdong Province as an example, the approval procedure stipulates that if the products to be procured cannot be obtained within China or cannot be obtained under reasonable commercial terms, or if laws and regulations otherwise require the procurement of imported products, the procuring entity must obtain approval from the financial authorities before conducting government procurement in accordance with the law. In other words, only imported medical devices that are unavailable within China or cannot be obtained under reasonable commercial conditions may be procured; otherwise, domestic equipment must be given priority.

　　Anhui Province

　　Anhui Province has clarified that, effective June 1, all medical institutions procuring imported products using fiscal budget funds or “own funds” must submit the relevant application forms and expert review opinions through the “Hui Cai Yun” platform, thereby implementing online submission. The competent budgetary authorities and the financial departments at or above the prefectural level will conduct online approval. Once approval is granted, procurement activities shall be carried out in accordance with applicable regulations; no procurement of imported products may proceed without prior approval.

　　Hubei Province

　　On June 7, the Hubei Provincial Department of Finance issued a notice on the “Hubei Provincial-Level Government Procurement Procedures,” stipulating that for projects approved by the department to procure imported goods, the procurement documents must explicitly allow for the purchase of such imports, while at the same time refraining from restricting the participation of domestically produced products that meet the required specifications. Following expert reviews, yet another hurdle has been added to the path of imported equipment; conversely, this also provides an additional advantage for high‑quality domestic instruments.

　　Zhejiang Province

　　Zhejiang Province has issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Promotion of ‘One-Stop Online’ and ‘One-Click’ Open Sharing of Large Scientific Research Instruments (Draft for Public Comment),” which, while ensuring research needs are met, prioritizes the procurement of domestically produced instruments and seeks to progressively increase the proportion of large scientific research instruments purchased and utilized that are of domestic origin. Furthermore, a dedicated instrument‑development program has been established within the provincial key R&D plan, with a focus on supporting the domestic substitution of major instruments and tackling critical core technologies.

　　Meishan City, Sichuan Province

　　The Finance Bureau of Meishan City, Sichuan Province, has issued the “Meishan Municipal Government Procurement Negative List,” which, based on relevant laws and regulations, identifies 53 prohibited scenarios across such areas as eligibility criteria, procurement requirements, and evaluation factors. For example:

　　Article 10, paragraph 5 stipulates: “It is prohibited to procure imported products without prior approval, or, upon approval, to restrict the participation of domestic products in competition.”

　　Article 12 also contains two provisions restricting the procurement of imported goods and services: “It is prohibited to procure goods or service projects exceeding RMB 10 million, or engineering procurement projects exceeding RMB 30 million, without conducting a needs assessment”; and “It is prohibited to undertake projects that are technically complex or highly specialized—such as information technology construction projects requiring custom development or projects involving the procurement of imported products—without first conducting a needs assessment.”

　　Article 42, paragraph 6 explicitly stipulates: “Experts who participated in the evaluation of a procurement project involving imported products shall be prohibited from serving as review experts for that same project.”

　　It is readily apparent that, in recent years, while the state has been encouraging the development of domestically produced equipment, it has also, through policy guidance, to some extent “curbed” imports. However, policy support is only one aspect; what domestic manufacturers need most is to strengthen their independent R&D and innovation capabilities, diligently pursue new technologies, and align with emerging market demands—ultimately driving the domestic equipment industry toward high-end manufacturing and gradually reducing reliance on imported products.

　　Otherwise, if quality fails to keep pace, many tendering agencies will continue to exploit loopholes—insisting on imported products or well-known brands—and use the pretext of discriminatory bidding criteria to further shrink the market for domestically produced equipment.

　　However, as more provinces and municipalities introduce regulatory policies on government procurement, such abusive tendering clauses will be strictly prohibited, and domestically produced equipment will enjoy a fairer competitive market environment.

　　Strengthen the development of high-end general-purpose instruments.

　　Hebei Province

　　Hebei Province has issued the Implementation Opinions on the “Metrology Development Plan (2021–2035),” which clarifies the expansion of the scope and areas for evaluating high-end instruments and equipment, the refinement of the instrument evaluation system, and measures to enhance the market competitiveness and share of domestically produced instruments, thereby advancing the localization of measurement instruments. In light of the characteristics and spatial distribution of the province’s metrological instrument manufacturing industry, priority is being given to fostering the development of manufacturing sectors—such as environmental monitoring instruments, chip‑measurement instruments, weighing instruments, flow meters, and current/voltage transformers—in cities with established industrial foundations, including Shijiazhuang, Chengde, Langfang, and Baoding.

　　Anhui Province

　　The Work Plan for Implementing the Anhui Province Metrology Development Plan (2021–2035) explicitly sets out to support quality improvements in the high-end instrumentation industry. Specifically, it encourages research and development efforts to master core technologies and algorithms for instruments and equipment, and promotes the enhancement of the quality of general-purpose instruments such as chromatographs, mass spectrometers, scanning electron microscopes, nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers, specific surface area and pore size analyzers, and multi-scale micro‑nano morphology measurement devices, with the aim of gradually replacing imported counterparts. Particular emphasis is placed on advancing the application of quantum chip technology in metrological instruments and equipment.

　　Tianjin City

　　The “Implementation Opinions on the Tianjin Municipal Plan for Implementing the Metrology Development Program (2021–2035)” (Draft for Public Comment) proposes to support the development of high-end instrumentation and precision manufacturing, underpin technological innovation and quality improvement in Tianjin’s instrumentation industry, and accelerate the localization of new‑type sensors, advanced instruments, and metrological testing equipment. It calls for strengthening the independent research, development, and application of high‑precision measurement standards, and promoting the domestic substitution of metrological instruments and equipment. Furthermore, it emphasizes advancing the R&D of high‑end general‑purpose instruments such as chromatographs, mass spectrometers, high‑precision sensors, and high‑accuracy comprehensive performance testing devices, while expediting the development and widespread deployment of specialized measuring instruments tailored to sectors including intelligent manufacturing, environmental monitoring, biopharmaceuticals, and healthcare.

　　Accelerate the research, development, and application of fiber-optic sensors, 4D light-field sensors, miniaturized white-light interferometric measurement sensors, gas‑sensing sensors, temperature sensors, flow sensors, high‑precision tunneling magnetoresistance current sensors, advanced image sensors, and high‑speed optoelectronic sensors. Strengthen the foundational role of metrology in the R&D, design, testing, production, and operation of instruments and equipment, thereby enhancing their overall quality. Enhance the development of public technical service platforms for metrological testing and quality assessment of instruments and meters, fostering industrial agglomeration and helping to cultivate a group of domestically produced instrument and meter brands with core technologies and competitive advantages.

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