China Nuclear Imaging Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

China Nuclear Imaging Market Trends and Insights

Rising Prevalence of Cancer & CVD

China recorded 3.2 million new cancer cases in 2024, while cardiovascular disease stayed the top mortality driver, intensifying demand for high-accuracy imaging modalities^{[1]Source: “Comparative Analysis of Cancer Statistics in China,” Chinese Medical Journal, cmj.journals.lww.com} . 18F-FAPI-04 PET/CT outperformed conventional 18F-FDG in pancreatic adenocarcinoma by upgrading TNM staging in 23% of evaluated patients, reinforcing the clinical case for advanced radiopharmaceuticals. Full-body PET systems uncovered lesions outside conventional fields in 8.47% of prostate-cancer patients, prompting treatment-plan revisions and signaling measurable clinical utility gains. Collectively, the oncology burden and rising lifestyle-related CVD prevalence make nuclear imaging indispensable for precision medicine strategies throughout tertiary hospitals and emerging outpatient centers.

Government Investment & Healthy China 2030 Policies

Healthy China 2030 positions nuclear medicine as a core pillar of nationwide diagnostic modernization, complemented by the Mid- and Long-Term Development Plan for Medical Isotopes (2021–2035) that earmarks funds for domestic isotope capacity. Government health-expenditure share in total spending rose from 17.1% in the early 2000s to nearly 30% by 2024, and macro projections suggest continuing uplift toward 2030. March 2025 State Council opinions introduced accelerated pathways for urgently needed medical devices, removing procedural frictions that historically delayed PET/CT approvals. Regional funding gaps persist, but targeted subsidies for western provinces plus Belt-and-Road export programs are tilting capital toward underserved markets.

Aging Population & Higher Healthcare Spend

Rapid population aging is pushing demand beyond cyclical health-budget changes, with the supply-demand coupling coordination index improving each year from 2012-2022 across most provinces. Per-capita health spending hit CNY 5,112.3 in 2024, and the out-of-pocket share dropped to 26.89%, easing financial pressure on households for high-ticket diagnostics. Commercial health-insurance premiums soared to CNY 900 billion, supplementing social insurance to bridge reimbursement gaps for nuclear scans^{[2]Source: Chris Liu, “China Healthcare Outlook for 2025,” Invesco, invesco.com} . These structural shifts collectively extend the funding runway for the China nuclear imaging market over the decade.

Domestic Radioisotope Capacity Expansion

China National Nuclear Corporation began mass-producing carbon-14 isotopes in April 2024, supplying 150 curies annually and eliminating import reliance. Construction of the first dedicated medical-isotope reactor in Sichuan is projected to unlock CNY 400 billion of nuclear-technology economic output by 2026, reducing cost volatility for SPECT and PET tracers. Accelerator-based production projects, including the 14 MeV CYCIAE-14 cyclotron line, are ramping up 11C, 15O, and 18F supply at up to 200 μA capacity, cutting waste and improving safety. Strengthened upstream uranium mining in Inner Mongolia further stabilizes isotope feedstock availability.

High Capital Cost & Reimbursement Gaps

PET/CT scanners typically exceed USD 2 million per unit, posing financing barriers for smaller hospitals despite rising government expenditure. Supply-side subsidies narrow the gap in affluent coastal regions, whereas demand-side vouchers are more effective in less-developed provinces. Commercial insurance penetration accelerates access, yet reimbursement schedules for advanced tracers remain inconsistent across provinces. Total-body PET deployments highlighted higher false-positive rates, adding workflow complexity and imposing additional training and quality-control costs that smaller institutions struggle to absorb.

Talent Shortage of Nuclear-Medicine Technologists

China’s 12,000-strong nuclear-medicine workforce supports more than 1,000 departments nationwide, serving 3.9 million patients annually—well below OECD benchmarks when normalized for population. Implementation of AI-assisted decision-support software confronts both regulatory uncertainty and limited staff proficiency, delaying scale-up in lower-tier cities. Specialized competencies required for theranostics and full-body PET protocols further raise training demands, creating human-capital bottlenecks that could temper expansion even where equipment investment is feasible.

Segment Analysis

By Product: Equipment Drives Infrastructure Expansion

Equipment retained a dominant 64.67% share of the China nuclear imaging market size in 2024 as hospitals accelerated PET/CT deployment, with installed bases expected to top 1,600 units by 2025. United Imaging Healthcare’s uMR Jupiter 5.0T and the NeuroEXPLORER brain PET platform underline domestic manufacturers’ move into ultra-high-field and sub-millimeter imaging niches. Competitive pricing, localized service networks, and regulatory fast-tracks under NMPA guidelines sustain equipment-segment momentum across tertiary facilities.

Radioisotopes posted the fastest 9.95% CAGR, underpinned by policy-backed self-sufficiency drives and China Isotope & Radiation Corporation’s 70% grip on radioactive-drug supply. SPECT tracers such as 99mTc dominate volume, while premium-priced PET isotopes—including 18F and 68Ga—lift value growth. Accelerator production cuts waste and supports decentralization, reinforcing penetration into tier-2 oncology clinics.

By Application: Oncology Leadership with Neurology Acceleration

Oncology contributed 41.89% of the China nuclear imaging market share in 2024, fueled by 3.2 million annual cancer diagnoses and the move toward precision staging protocols. Studies showed 18F-FAPI-04 improving pancreatic-cancer staging in 23% of patients and total-body PET redefining prostate-cancer management in 8.47% of cases.

Neurology leads growth at a 9.78% CAGR as 11C-CFT brain imaging refines Parkinson’s diagnosis and AI solutions boost scan-interpretation sensitivity to 99.10%. Shorter scan protocols using full-body PET improve pediatric-epilepsy workflow without sacrificing image quality, helping spread adoption across children’s hospitals.

By End User: Hospital Dominance with Imaging Center Growth

Hospitals accounted for 71.33% of the China nuclear imaging market size in 2024, delivering integrated diagnostic and therapeutic services to 3.9 million patients yearly. Capital-intensive investments such as proton-therapy centers in Beijing and Guangzhou enable hospitals to anchor multi-modality cancer-care pathways.

Diagnostic imaging centers are advancing at a 10.08% CAGR, propelled by decentralization mandates and rising commercial-insurance coverage. Tight integration with private insurers enables patient-friendly packages for PET/CT scans, while streamlined NMPA approvals open the door for rapid equipment upgrades. Academic and research institutes foster innovation, evidenced by Tsinghua’s 1-mm-resolution gamma camera prototypes, further enriching service offerings.

Geography Analysis

Tier-1 municipalities and eastern coastal provinces host the densest nuclear-medicine infrastructure, buoyed by higher GDP per capita and stronger government-provider coordination. For example, Siemens Healthineers now classifies China as a standalone reporting region, citing expectations that the China nuclear imaging market will contribute nearly half of Asia-Pacific revenues by 2030. uEXPLORER full-body PET units have been installed in 16 hospitals across Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, indicating early-adopter clustering.

Western and central provinces are catching up through earmarked Healthy China 2030 funding and central-government subsidies that push hospital upgrades into underserved locales. Tibet’s 67.94% government-health-spend ratio illustrates policy emphasis on equity despite geographic challenges. Short half-life isotope transport remains difficult in vast inland regions, making local cyclotron builds in Sichuan crucial for supply security.

The Belt-and-Road Initiative extends geographic influence abroad: CNNC’s EPC contract to erect a gamma-irradiation plant in Bangladesh demonstrates capability export linked to domestic production expansion. Such outward projects reinforce China’s positioning as a regional hub for radiopharmaceutical manufacturing.