According to a circular published by China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) on November 2, 2017, from the publication date of this circular, all applicants for imported medical equipment must use Chinese names.
This change will mainly affect the foreign pharmaceutical companies which used to only register their English names with CFDA when selling their medical equipment to China. Since most big pharmaceutical companies have established their subsidiaries in China and have used their Chinese names for a long time, it is expected that this new rule won’t have much impact on them.
Having said that, for newcomers to the China market, it is time to think of a good Chinese name because you will need it soon. More importantly, don’t forget to register the new Chinese name as a trademark in China before you file it to CFDA. If a Chinese name is not registrable in China, don’t use it. Otherwise, you will be building your business on a name that you don’t own.