The sixth batch of national high-value consumables centralized procurement has been launched, introducing multiple mechanisms to prevent malicious low prices.

The newly launched national centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables include drug-coated balloon catheters and urological intervention medical consumables, with the bidding scheduled to open on January 13, 2026. This is the sixth round of national centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables. Different from the previous five rounds of centralized procurement, this round introduces two new highlights: the concept of anchor prices and the introduction of a multiple bidding mechanism. According to analysts, anchor prices are meant to strike a balance between price reduction and preventing malicious price pressures. This approach has two main advantages. Firstly, it helps prevent vicious competition or suicidal pricing that sets the threshold too low. Secondly, this mechanism can also break the possible collusion behavior among enterprises.