It is necessary to continuously deepen expansion on both the product and market fronts, driving innovation in materials and processes while leveraging price competitiveness and geographic advantages to focus on the Asian market.

　　A vascular stent is a hollow, mesh‑like tubular device used to support blood vessels that have become narrowed or occluded due to disease, thereby reducing elastic recoil and restenosis and restoring normal blood flow. Vascular stents are manufactured from metallic or polymeric materials and may be implanted in the human vasculature either permanently or temporarily. According to China’s Medical Device Classification Catalogue, vascular stents are classified as implantable medical devices and are subject to regulatory oversight as Class III high‑risk products.

　　Based on their deployment mechanism within the vessel, vascular stents are classified into self‑expanding and balloon‑expandable types: the former expands spontaneously inside the vessel, while the latter lacks intrinsic elasticity and relies on balloon inflation for expansion. According to surface treatment, they can be categorized as bare‑metal, coated, or covered stents: bare‑metal stents have only a polished surface; coated stents feature a metallic surface treated with heparin, titanium oxide, or other agents; and covered stents are clad with a biodegradable or non‑biodegradable polymeric film. From the perspective of clinical performance, stents are further divided into simple support stents and therapeutic stents; the latter may incorporate drug‑eluting coatings, carry therapeutic agents via an external covering, or even be radiomarked.

　　In the 2012 edition of the Customs Tariff of the People’s Republic of China, vascular stents were, for the first time, classified as a separate product and assigned the corresponding tariff heading: 9021901100 (VAT rate: 17%, export tax rebate: 15%).

　　China’s vascular stent trade totaled US$282 million, with exports amounting to US$9.78 million and imports to US$273 million, resulting in a substantial trade deficit of US$263 million. Monthly import and export trends show that imports have generally remained above US$20 million, peaking at US$31.1992 million in March, while exports have stayed below US$1.5 million, with November recording the highest monthly export value at US$1.4428 million.

　　Leading the export to Asia

　　Export market

　　From a geographical perspective, Asia is the primary market for China’s vascular stent exports, with export value totaling US$4.398 million, accounting for 44.98% of the total. Europe ranks second, with exports valued at US$2.7702 million, representing 28.33% of the total. With the exception of Africa, which recorded no export trade, the remaining continents accounted for US$2.6098 million, or 26.69% of the total.

　　From a country- and region-specific perspective, China exports vascular stents to only 19 countries and regions. The top ten markets, in order, are the Netherlands, Uruguay, Hong Kong, Belgium, the Philippines, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Chile. The total export value to these top ten markets amounted to US$9.6115 million, accounting for 98.29% of the country’s total stent exports.

　　Exporting Provinces and Cities

　　From the perspective of exporting provinces and municipalities, China has seven regions that export vascular stents: Shanghai, Shandong, Guangdong, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Beijing, and Hubei. Among them, Shanghai accounts for US$6.9126 million in exports, representing a share as high as 70.7%.

　　Export enterprise

　　From the perspective of exporting enterprises, in 2012, only 10 Chinese companies engaged in the export trade of vascular stents. Among them, six were private enterprises, with an export value of US$1.2877 million, accounting for 13.17%; the remaining four were foreign-invested enterprises, with an export value of US$8.4903 million, representing 86.83%.

　　From the perspective of individual companies, China’s vascular stent exports are primarily concentrated among four firms: MicroPort Medical (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shandong Jiwei Medical Products Co., Ltd., Yeeju Medical Devices (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., and Shanghai Yilian Import & Export Co., Ltd. Among these, MicroPort Medical (Shanghai) accounts for nearly 60% of the total export value, while the other three each hold roughly 15%, with their shares being relatively similar.

　　Imported, Europe-led

　　Import market

　　From the perspective of import regions, Europe is the primary market for China’s vascular stent imports, accounting for US$232 million, or 85% of the total. North America ranks second, with imports totaling US$36.5487 million, representing 13.41% of the total.

　　From a country- and region‑specific perspective, China imported vascular stents from 14 countries and regions. The top ten markets, in order, were Ireland, the United States, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Singapore, Japan, and the Netherlands. Among these, imports from Ireland totaled US$209 million, accounting for as much as 76.54% of the total.

　　Importing provinces and cities

　　From the perspective of importing provinces and municipalities, China has a total of six regions that import vascular stents. Among them, Shanghai is the leading importer, with an import value of US$258 million, accounting for 94.76% of the national total. Within this group, Beijing hosts the largest number of enterprises engaged in the import of vascular stents—23 companies, or 43.4% of the national total—while its import value stands at US$7.3254 million, ranking second. Guangdong, by contrast, has only five importing firms, with an import value of US$6.4736 million, placing it third.

　　Importing enterprise

　　From the perspective of the import‑enterprise structure, in 2012 China had a total of 53 companies engaged in the import of vascular stents: 17 were foreign‑invested enterprises, with an import value of US$248 million, accounting for 91.12%; 23 were private enterprises, with an import value of US$16 million, representing 6.04%; and 13 were state‑owned enterprises, with an import value of US$8 million, or 2.84%. In terms of quantity, private enterprises ranked first, but their share of the total import value was significantly lower than that of foreign‑invested firms.

　　Looking at individual companies, the top ten accounted for a combined import value of US$261 million, representing 95.8% of the total. Among these top ten, seven were foreign-invested enterprises, with a combined import value of US$248 million, or 90.83% of the total. In terms of specific amounts, Gaiteng International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. and Medtronic Medical Supplies Technical Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. recorded import values far exceeding those of the other firms, each surpassing US$90 million. Peking International Medical Trade (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., ranked third, reported imports of over US$30 million, while Bard Medical Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. exceeded US$10 million; the remaining companies all posted import values below US$10 million.

　　Seeking a breakthrough

　　As living standards improve and lifestyles change, the incidence of cardiovascular diseases continues to rise, drawing increasing attention to their treatment and prevention. Pharmacotherapy and surgical intervention have long been the traditional approaches; however, pharmacotherapy is most effective for mild arterial stenosis but involves prolonged treatment courses and slow onset of action, while surgery carries higher risks and may result in permanent harm to patients. In contrast, interventional therapy for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, with its minimal invasiveness and rapid, immediate efficacy, has become the primary modality for managing vascular stenosis today.

　　Since the mid-1980s, advances in technology have driven continuous innovation in vascular stents, evolving from bare-metal stents—stents without any drug coating—to drug-eluting stents and, more recently, bioresorbable stents, with increasingly favorable clinical outcomes. At present, global demand for vascular stents is on the rise, spurring diversification in product offerings. Today, the international market provides not only coronary artery stents for patients with coronary artery disease but also renal artery stents, biliary stents, and cerebrovascular stents, among others.

　　In China, as public awareness of vascular stents continues to grow and living standards improve, domestic demand for these devices is steadily increasing. According to reports, the Chinese vascular stent market has maintained a growth rate of around 30% in recent years. In terms of market share, most products currently used in Chinese medical institutions are either fully imported or manufactured in China by foreign‑owned companies. The reasons for this are twofold: first, foreign firms entered the Chinese market earlier, establishing robust sales networks and capturing a substantial market share; second, domestic manufacturers started later, and their products still lag behind their international counterparts in performance, resulting in relatively lower market penetration.

　　In summary, as both domestic and international markets remain on an expansionary trajectory, Chinese vascular stent manufacturers are confronted with new opportunities and challenges. Accordingly, Chinese firms must continue to broaden their reach across both product lines and market segments, pursue innovation in materials and manufacturing processes to enhance product quality, and leverage competitive pricing and strategic geographic advantages to focus on the markets of neighboring Asian countries.