In recent years, it has been common for some research institutes, enterprises and other units to refuse to purchase domestic instruments and equipment for various reasons and only purchase imported ones in the bidding and procurement process.
Recently, the Guanshanhu District Disease Prevention and Control Center in Guiyang City launched the procurement of laboratory construction instruments. The total budget of the project is 24.574 million yuan, and the announcement shows that 9.13 million yuan will be used to purchase imported instruments. The argumentation opinions not only require GC IC、AAS、ICP-OES、 Large equipment such as fully automatic flow injection analyzers and fluorescence quantitative PCR analyzers are purchased and imported, and even common instruments such as refrigerators, 1% balances, ordinary centrifuges, and water heaters imply that "domestic production is not feasible".
As soon as this argument was presented, it immediately sparked extensive discussions among professionals in the instrumentation industry.
A netizen said, "In terms of scientific instruments, imported manufacturers have been ahead of us for many years, which needs to be acknowledged. However, domestic instruments have always been striving and have made great progress. As researchers of national units and quality control inspectors, we are all contributing to the progress of the country. Please do not put colored glasses on domestic instruments
Domestic instruments and equipment have repeatedly been unfairly procured
Unable to purchase suitable instruments domestically, and the performance of related products in China does not meet the requirements; The performance and accuracy of similar domestic products are not as good as imported products, and the performance does not meet the requirements for scientific research and use; Domestic products cannot meet the requirements of scientific research experiments such as high quality, high precision, and strong reliability... Looking at the evidence of various institutions purchasing instruments in China, it is not difficult to see similar reasons for rejecting domestic production.
In 2018, the Jingshan Grain Quality Supervision and Inspection Station in Hubei Province purchased two types of analytical instruments, near-infrared analyzers and gas chromatographs, based on monitoring requirements and the actual situation of the unit. However, in the published expert opinions, it was stated that "these two types of products do not have domestic production capacity and need to be imported products".
In recent years, China's investment in scientific research has been continuously increasing, and excellent achievements in domestic instruments have emerged. However, for a long time, there has been a trade deficit between domestic and imported instruments, and domestic instruments have been repeatedly discriminated against in various procurement processes. The perception of procurement users still favors imported brands.
It is understood that foreign-funded enterprises such as Shimadzu and Agilent have long dominated the Chinese market in the field of testing instruments. Even though laboratory testing instruments with almost identical functions and parameters have import prices nearly 50% higher than domestic ones, they still remain the preferred choice for customers.
Domestic instruments and equipment urgently need to be 'renamed'
In 2013, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, and Beijing Entry Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau jointly established the Capital Science and Technology Condition Platform Testing and Certification Field Center to carry out the verification and evaluation of domestic instruments and equipment.
As of 2018, the evaluation project has provided evaluation services for 49 products from 42 companies in four batches, issued 29 standards, obtained 172 patents, and the sales of evaluation companies have increased by a total of 260%. After 5 years of exploration and practice, the evaluation project has forged a unique path of supply side reform for domestically produced scientific instruments.
Chen Yunbo, Director of the Finance Department of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, said, "Truly validated products can not only enter the market, defeat or replace imported products, but also benefit users, such as cost reduction. The user experience provided by users also supports instrument developers and manufacturers to improve instrument equipment, so that users can use instrument equipment for more applications
In the current situation of continuous trade frictions between China and the United States, it is a great opportunity for the development of domestic instruments and meters. We hope that the country can provide support for domestic instruments from various aspects such as policy guidance, financial support, and talent cultivation; Domestic instrument enterprises strive to "diligently train their internal skills" and enhance their comprehensive competitiveness; Instrument users can pay more attention to the development of domestic instruments, giving them a fair, just, open, and transparent competitive opportunity.
Only when the tide recedes can we know who is swimming naked. For domestic instrument and meter enterprises, the future will be an era where product quality wins. Only enterprises that truly implement quality in practice can continuously move forward in the market.
