Medical device manufacturers in China face increasing scrutiny over pricing. In its latest investigation, Chinese regulators are probing both local and foreign medical device manufacturers. As of now, companies are requested to answer a questionnaire that sought an unusually large amount of detail.

As of now, the Chinese medical device industry is worth an estimated $20 billion. Over the past few years, the industry has faced allegations of corruption and bribery. In the pharmaceuticals sector, regulators have accused multiple companies of price fixing.

If price fixing turns out to be a significant problem for the Chinese medical device industry, companies could be i violating of the country's 2008 anti-monopoly law. For now, however, regulators have not made any formal accusations.

According to the deputy director of the China Association of Medical Devices Industry group, the survey was commissioned by the anti-monopoly bureau of the Chinese Commerce Ministry. While the survey didn't directly ask companies questions about corruption, regulators are likely to focus in on this issue at some stage.

"In the future, there will be even stricter rules. The rules should likely not be restricted to price fixing, but will also target commercial bribery," stated an industry spokesperson.

In many cases, Chinese industry bodies will obtain information from companies prior to a formal problem. The latest survey asked questions on subjects like the value of imported goods, price change forecasts, distributor pricing, product volumes, workforce size, production costs and sales techniques.