The entry of more domestic brands has intensified price competition in the surgical robot market. In 2009, Chen Biliang first encountered a surgical robot during a training session at a hospital in Hong Kong, where he could only observe and take photos, filled with wonder and curiosity. Upon returning to Xi'an, the hospital he was working at did not introduce a surgical robot until 2012, after a lengthy approval process involving votes from five department heads and a report to headquarters. Chen Biliang, now the director of the Women's Hospital at Xi'an People's Hospital, has completed nearly 5,000 robotic-assisted gynecological surgeries. He has personally witnessed the application of surgical robots in mainland Chinese hospitals and believes they are profoundly transforming the careers of surgeons.

China's laparoscopic surgical robot market was initially dominated by the imported brand Da Vinci, but now numerous domestic brands have entered the fray, including MicroPort MedBot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Sinopharm Robot Co., Ltd., Edge Medical Ltd., and ShuRui Surgical Technology Co., Ltd.. While these companies are driving the clinical application of surgical robots, they are also bringing about more intense market competition, forcing manufacturers to consider how to break free from a pure price war.

Market competition is intensifying. Surgical robots are categorized by clinical application into four main types: laparoscopic, natural orifice (e.g., digestive/respiratory tract exams), orthopedic, and others (e.g., percutaneous/pan-vascular). The laparoscopic surgical robot market is the largest segment in both China and the global market due to its wide use in urology, gynecology, general surgery, and thoracic surgery. Before 2023, Intuitive Surgical-Fosun's Da Vinci surgical robot held the vast majority of China's laparoscopic surgical robot market. However, in recent years, the market share of domestic surgical robots has been expanding. According to MedRobot, in 2025, a total of 90 laparoscopic surgical robots were awarded in domestic hospital tenders. Da Vinci secured 43 units, accounting for 47.78% of the total. The four major domestic manufacturers—Edge Medical, MicroPort, Sinopharm Robot, and ShuRui—collectively accounted for the same share of 47.78%, forming a strong competitive tier. However, compared to developed markets like the United States, China still has a significant gap in both the installed base of laparoscopic surgical robots and the volume of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgeries. For example, according to Frost & Sullivan data, the penetration rate of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgeries in the US reached 21.9% in 2024, while in China, where traditional minimally invasive surgery remains the norm, the penetration rate was only 0.7% in 2024.

Against the backdrop of low market penetration, the influx of more manufacturers has quietly heated up price competition. According to a report from Huatai Securities, publicly available tender data shows a clear downward trend. In the first half of 2026, the total announced winning bid amount for laparoscopic surgical robots in domestic public hospitals was approximately 320 million yuan, down from about 425 million yuan in the previous half-year. The average unit price fell from 17.69 million yuan to 13.32 million yuan, a drop of about 24.7%. Liu Fujun, CEO of Intuitive Surgical-Fosun, stated that competition in the laparoscopic surgical robot market is beneficial for the industry. It validates the commercial value of the track and helps drive the technology's adoption. "As the industry supply chain matures and economies of scale increase, price declines are a natural law of industrial development. Moreover, the price of a surgical robot is not just about buying a device; it involves a complete ecosystem including clinical support, technical services, and new surgical procedure development. A company's core competitiveness does not lie in short-term price bidding, but in a complete clinical ecosystem, long-term service capabilities, and a scaled local supply chain layout."

Liu Fujun added that while the concept of robotics is hot and technology is evolving in various directions, many tracks are still exploring business models. The medical and socio-economic value of soft tissue surgical robots, like laparoscopic ones, has been fully validated globally. He noted that while China's installed base of surgical robots still lags behind the US, the average annual number of surgeries performed per Da Vinci device in China has exceeded 400 cases. To popularize surgical robots in the future, it is still necessary to continuously improve technological accessibility. Intuitive Surgical-Fosun has accelerated its localization process in China in recent years. For example, in 2023, the Da Vinci Xi Surgical System was localized. Recently, the company established its regional headquarters in Guangzhou's Tianhe District.

Liu Fujun believes that the policy environment and industrial ecosystem for robotic surgery in China are continuously improving. The industry has moved through a period of technology introduction and cognitive consolidation, where top-tier hospitals took the lead, and a period of large-scale application, marked by improved national policies and multidisciplinary expansion. It is now entering a new phase of diversified competition focused on "quality, refined operations, and efficiency," and the entire industry is on the eve of an explosion. "Early on, hospitals were concerned with 'having it'—whether they could perform robotic surgeries. Today, they are more focused on 'using it well'—how to continuously create clinical, management, and operational value." Liu Fujun believes that the dimensions for hospitals to evaluate robotic projects are extending to long-term value, such as medical quality, operational efficiency, and patient benefits. Therefore, the future focus of the industry should shift from device innovation to systemic capability building, where technology application, professional training, clinical support, and operational management are all indispensable.

The promotion of laparoscopic surgical robot surgeries in China is currently concentrated in large hospitals. At a recent high-quality development conference for robotic surgery, the president of a third-tier city hospital stated that the key to promoting widespread adoption of surgical robots lies in changing doctors' mindsets, along with fine management of consumables and lowering surgical costs to achieve sustainable operations. The ongoing DRG payment reform in public hospitals is forcing them to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Meanwhile, performance evaluations for tertiary hospitals focus on core indicators like bed turnover efficiency, CMI (Case Mix Index), and average length of stay. Surgical robots, with their characteristics of smaller trauma and faster recovery, show advantages in shortening patient hospital stays and accelerating bed turnover. How to leverage this to improve hospital management levels became a focus of discussion among hospital administrators at the conference.

It is noteworthy that the cost of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgery is higher than that of traditional laparoscopic surgery. Currently, some robotic-assisted surgeries are covered by basic medical insurance in Shanghai, and some commercial medical insurance plans in certain regions also cover the treatment costs. However, overall, the coverage of both basic and commercial medical insurance remains quite limited, leaving patients with high out-of-pocket expenses. This, to some extent, restricts the clinical promotion of robotic-assisted laparoscopic surgeries. Professor Chen Yingyao from Fudan University's School of Public Health stated that as surgical robot technology matures, a scientific evaluation of its value is a bridge for innovative technology to reach patients. "Drugs require a complete health technology assessment report before entering the medical insurance system, while equipment and consumables like surgical robots have not yet established a similar process, creating a system gap." Chen Yingyao said that the value assessment of surgical robots should be comprehensive, covering clinical, economic, and social value. It should particularly focus on long-term health outcomes and quality of life, rather than just the cost of a single surgery. Existing evidence, both domestic and international, shows that robotic surgery can reduce intraoperative conversion rates, blood transfusion volumes, and postoperative complications, shorten hospital stays, and demonstrate economic advantages for conditions like prostate cancer. The current need is to build a localized evidence system for the health economics of robotic surgery in China, promote the scientific pricing of robotic surgeries, drive real-world research, and translate clinical evidence into economic indicators. The ultimate goal is to effectively link clinical innovation, pricing, and medical insurance payment security.

In January, the National Healthcare Security Administration officially issued guidelines for pricing medical service items related to surgical and treatment assistance operations, including medical robots. This policy aims to unify charging rules for robotic surgery, which have varied across regions. According to Liu Fujun, Intuitive Surgical-Fosun is proactively adjusting prices to further increase the market penetration of surgical robots. "With the acceleration of population aging, the continuous growth of surgical demand, and the increasing popularity of the concept of minimally invasive precision treatment, robotic surgery in China still has vast room for development."