EU bars Chinese firms from major state medical equipment contracts

Brussels, Belgium: The European Union on Friday banned Chinese firms from government medical device purchases worth more than five million euros ($5.8...

Brussels, Belgium: The European Union on Friday banned Chinese firms from government medical device purchases worth more than five million euros ($5.8 million) in retaliation for limits Beijing places on access to its own market.

The latest salvo in trade tensions between the 27-nation bloc and China covers a wide range of healthcare supplies, from surgical masks to X-ray machines, that represent a market worth 150 billion euros in the EU.

"Our aim with these measures is to level the playing field for EU businesses," the bloc's trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said.

"We remain committed to dialogue with China to resolve these issues."

In response, China accused the EU of "double standards".