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Coronavirus pandemic
EconomyChina Economy

Coronavirus: China bans two medical equipment exporters for ‘tarnishing the country’s image’

  • Two Chinese firms have been banned from selling medical equipment after they were found to have exported defective products, the commerce ministry says
  • Both firms started trading in medical products after a sharp increase in demand due to the global fight against the coronavirus outbreak

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China, the world’s largest producer of face masks and protective gowns, has come under fire over the export of defective medical gear recently. Photo: Xinhua
Su-Lin TanandCissy Zhou

Beijing has banned two companies from exporting medical equipment after they were found to be selling poor quality products and “seriously tarnishing China’s national image”.

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Shenzhen-based Aibaoda Technology and Beijing-based Tus Data Asset, two little known players in the medical equipment industry, will no longer be able to export products relating to the control of Covid-19 after overseas buyers returned their goods, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Monday.

The ban is the latest bid by China to crack down on faulty medical exports and comes amid a flurry of bad headlines about defective masks and testing kits shipped to Europe and the United States, which now account for more than 80 per cent of the world’s nearly 2 million coronavirus infections.

The ministry did not offer details on the faulty equipment sold by the two companies, but neither had worked with medical products until recently.

Aibaoda, a 15-employee company backed by Taiwanese audiovisual firm Aipo International, previously sold earphones, microphones and loudspeakers, while Tus Data Asset developed blockchain technology and electronic equipment.

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