Under a recent directive, provinces and cities were told to review and update lists of medical equipment businesses required to declare prices in accordance with regulations.
The ministry stressed that price declaration requirements should apply only to businesses and products covered by existing rules.
Businesses are responsible for ensuring that their declared prices and supporting information are accurate and valid, and that prices reflect changes in input costs and prevailing market levels.
Local authorities were also asked to regularly monitor price declarations and identify unusual fluctuations, significant differences between suppliers, or prices that appear inconsistent with costs and market levels.
Where necessary, authorities may require businesses to provide documents and explanations for declared prices, and conduct inspections or request inspections by relevant agencies.
Lists of businesses subject to price declaration requirements should be reviewed annually and whenever changes arise, including the entry of new businesses or changes to existing operators.
The ministry also told medical equipment businesses to strictly follow price-listing rules. Listed prices must include applicable taxes and fees and clearly state the quantity, equipment name, type, model, manufacturer, origin and key technical specifications.
Businesses must not sell products above listed prices and must promptly update listings whenever prices change.
For equipment sold as part of packages that include transport, installation, maintenance, training, consumables or other services, businesses must clearly disclose the equipment price and any additional costs to avoid misleading customers.
Authorities were asked to focus inspections on businesses that fail to declare or clearly display prices, submit late or incomplete declarations, sell above listed prices or exploit shortages to impose unreasonable price increases.
Suspected violations involving competition, trade, taxation, invoices, procurement or other regulations should be referred to the relevant authorities for review and handling.