All the rage is of medical reform in China, but you won’t see any barefoot doctors getting their hands on this piece of kit. As noted in the headline, GE has won SFDA approval for a high-end CT scanner (featuring its Gemstone Spectral Imaging feature) and will roll it out in trials in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and a few other cities.

Though medical reform is being touted as a boon for revamping rural healthcare delivery systems, there will still be plenty of opportunity for sales of high-end systems, such as CT scanners. China has 12,000 general hospitals, and the government will also support the construction of 2,000 more county hospitals as part of the three-year medical reform plan (2009-2011).

County-level hospitals are usually the best equipped hospitals in the country and must have at least 250 beds. CT scanners (though probably not as high-end as GE’s Gem) are on the government’s basic equipment procurement list.

SHAMELESS PLUG/HONEST DISCLOSURE: I work for RedTech Advisors (China) Ltd., which offers research, investment and strategy services related to China's ConsumerTech, CleanTech and MedTech markets.  For more info, please see www.redtechadvisors.com.