Introduction

China is the world’s largest domestic market and a key global manufacturing hub for assistive products. According to recent estimates, a significant proportion of assistive products available globally are manufactured in China. For instance, over 50 per cent of global spectacles exports and over 60 per cent of global hearing aids are made in China [1] [2]. Furthermore, China’s overall rehabilitation assistive products market has been growing 9.4 per cent year-on-year since 2015, which is estimated to be higher than global average [3]. The AT market growth in China is driven by two critical factors:

  1. Large and growing domestic demand: As of 2023, China has 86 million persons with disabilities and 297 million people over 60 years old [4] [5]. The population over 60 years old has grown to 21.1 per cent of the total population in 2023 and is projected to exceed 33.3 per cent by 2050 [6]. As one of the key AT used among elderly population, research shows that from 2016 to 2022, the market size of manual wheelchairs in China grew from US$590 million to US$1 billion [7].
  2. Strong policy support: In 2016, the State Council launched the first national guideline “Several Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of the Rehabilitation Assistive Devices Industry, State Issue [2016] No. 60” to accelerate the growth of the assistive technology industry, aiming for a market size of RMB700 billion (~US$97 billion) by 2020 [8]. This guideline positioned the AT industry as a national priority and has led to the development of many relevant policies and regulatory changes on both the demand and supply sides for persons with disabilities in China. With this support, the industry has shown robust expansion over the past decade.
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Figure 1: Market size of China’s rehabilitation assistive product1 industry from 2015 to 2020 (Unit: 1 bn RMB, equivalent to US$140 mn) [3] [9]

Bar chart showing data from 2015 to 2020. Each year is represented by a vertical blue bar, with the value written above each bar. The values increase steadily each year: 2015: 461; 2016: 503; 2017: 550; 2018: 596; 2019: 650; 2020: 721. A dotted trend line runs above the bars, indicating a consistent upward trend over the years.

China is home to thousands of manufacturers producing across 10,000 different types of assistive products [9]. According to the China Association of Assistive Products, from 2016 to 2020, the number of Chinese wheelchair companies grew by 51.3 per cent, those producing or selling hearing aids by 142.5 per cent and those producing or selling prostheses by 85.8 per cent [10]. By 2020 the total number of companies in these three segments exceeded 25,000 — a fivefold increase from 2010. Several global leading companies have manufacturing plants in China such as EssilorLuxottica (spectacles), Ottobock (prostheses) and GN (hearing aids).

China’s assistive products supply is characterized by competitive pricing and diverse product range. Key drivers are strong manufacturing capability, supply chain advantage, and policy support. However, China's manufacturing capability still focuses more on low to mid-end products compared to countries with longer manufacturing experience, such as Europe, the US and Japan. The overall supplier landscape is fragmented, consisting of small- to medium-sized suppliers (< 100 staff) with limited publicly available information on their product quality and pricing. This makes it challenging for global buyers to find suitable suppliers offering affordable, high-quality products.

1.Definition of “Rehabilitation assistive product” in China can be found at “China Catalogue of Rehabilitation Assistive Products (2023 Edition)”. It includes both rehabilitation devices and assistive products.↩︎

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This report provides an overview of China’s supplier landscape for five assistive products (Digital AT, spectacles, hearing aids, prostheses and wheelchairs). It examines the manufacturing landscape for these products in China, identifies suppliers capable of and interested in supporting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) assistive product sales. The report also explores growth trends, challenges and opportunities for China's exports to LMICs and provides recommendations for global stakeholders to better leverage China's AT manufacturing capability to benefit persons with disabilities worldwide.

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