From Selling Laryngoscopes to Sourcing for the World: Why We Added a Second Lane
Most posts on this blog are about international patients coming to China for treatment. This one is different — it is for overseas buyers looking to source medical devices from China. If that is not you, feel free to skip!
I have been in the medical device business for over thirty years. Some people collect stamps. I seem to have collected job titles.
I trained as a surgeon in Beijing for three years. In the OR, you learn very quickly that details matter — the right instrument, the right size, the right timing. That habit of looking carefully at things stayed with me long after I left the hospital.
After that I moved into the commercial side. Three years as a product specialist at Mölnlycke (Sweden) and Johnson & Johnson Medical. Three years managing foreign-government-loan equipment projects at Golden State Holding Group. Then ten years running the China business for Truphatek as Territory Manager, until Truphatek China was acquired by Teleflex China in 2016. That same year, I set up Airway (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd.
So that was the distributor part. But here is something worth mentioning: while running Truphatek China, part of my role touched on cross-border supply chain work — coordinating between the Israeli side and manufacturers here in China. I was not deep in the day-to-day procurement, but I saw enough to understand how factories operate, how quotes are structured, and what “good supplier” actually looks like on the ground.
After Teleflex acquired the business in 2016 and I set up Airway (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., that exposure stayed with me — and eventually became the foundation for the second lane of this company.
For years, Airway Beijing was purely a distributor. We brought foreign medical devices into China, and most people in this field know us from the Truphatek / Teleflex laryngoscope business. Then, little by little, overseas customers started asking the opposite question: “Can you help us buy from China?”
That is how Airway MedBridge China came about — a small operation with two clear lanes:
- Medical Travel — helping international patients come to China for quality treatment (covered in other posts on this blog)
- Sourcing & Audit — helping overseas buyers find and verify Chinese medical device manufacturers
The truth is, I do not have some grand competitive advantage. What I have is time, and a habit of paying attention.
After three decades in this industry — as a clinician, a product specialist, a project manager, and a distributor — I have handled a very wide range of devices and dealt with a very wide range of suppliers. I know roughly what a product is supposed to do, what the paperwork is supposed to look like, and what questions to ask when something does not add up.
I also know the regulatory side well enough after all these years — NMPA registrations, production licences, CE/FDA documentation, what certificates actually mean and what they do not. I am not a lawyer and I will not give you a legal opinion. But I can usually tell in an afternoon whether a factory’s paperwork is in order.
Here is what we offer sourcing clients:
- Supplier shortlisting — we look for manufacturers that actually make what you need. China has plenty of trading companies posing as factories; we try to save you from that.
- On-site audit — we visit the factory and check the facility, QA documentation, certifications, and production records. We tell you what we find, including the parts that are not great.
- Sampling — we help you get real samples and keep them documented against the production lot, so the shipment later matches what you approved.
- Contracting — the agreement is signed with our registered Beijing entity, Airway (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. You are contracting with a real Chinese company, not an individual or a middleman.
No hard sell, no hidden agenda — just careful work, done properly. If we can help, great. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you that too.
About the author: Frank Wang is the founder of Airway MedBridge China and Airway (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. He has worked in the medical device industry for over 30 years across clinical, commercial, and distribution roles.