Part 1 ：Policy Direction — Clinics Need POCT

In late 2025, China’s National Health Commission issued an official reply to a proposal from the National People’s Congress.
The message was clear — and transformative: clinics are now authorized to conduct diagnostic testing within their own medical scope, either by outsourcing to licensed third-party laboratories or by performing a limited range of in-house tests.

This change is a true game-changer. It formally legitimizes and even encourages the use of point-of-care testing (POCT) as an integral part of clinical diagnosis.

Most private and community clinics in China lack the infrastructure, personnel, or space to operate full GLP-standard laboratories. Traditionally, their choices have been limited to two:

1. Sending every sample to external laboratories — increasing turnaround time and cost; 
2. Utilizing POCT solutions that provide immediate results at the site of care.

The new policy recognizes that POCT is no longer a supplementary convenience, but an essential diagnostic capability for China’s rapidly expanding primary-care network.
With more than 270,000 private clinics nationwide and that number still rising, the potential scale of POCT adoption is enormous.
For the first time, the regulatory environment, the clinical demand, and the technological maturity are fully aligned.

Part 2 ：The Likely POCT Test Menu for Clinics

So, which assays are most likely to gain traction in private clinics?
They will not be complex, high-end panels or niche biomarkers. Clinics primarily need simple, high-frequency, low-complexity tests that directly guide everyday medical decisions.

From our observation, several categories of assays are positioned for early adoption in these settings.Typical examples include:

• CRP, PCT, and MxA for infection classification;
• HbA1c and lipid profiles for chronic-disease management;
• Troponin I/T or CK-MB for basic cardiac screening; and
• Influenza A/B, RSV, and COVID antigen tests for seasonal outbreaks.

Among these, the combination of MxA and CRP stands out.
CRP reflects the body’s overall inflammatory response, while MxA indicates interferon activation during viral infection.Together, they form a fast, intuitive decision-support tool for frontline physicians:

• MxA ↑ + CRP normal → viral infection
• CRP ↑ + MxA normal → bacterial infection
• Both ↑ → possible co-infection

Such clarity simplifies communication between doctors and patients.
A clinician can directly explain: “This is viral — antibiotics won’t help.”
This not only prevents over-prescription but also aligns with China’s ongoing efforts to control antibiotic abuse.

Part 3：What It Means for POCT Companies

For manufacturers, this new wave of clinic-level testing will not be decided merely by branding, price, or quality — those are now just the baseline.

Our view is that two other factors will significantly determine who succeeds: adaptation and innovation.

Adaptation means designing systems that truly fit the clinical reality:

• small footprint,
• minimal maintenance,
• one-step operation, and
• intuitive results that even non-laboratory staff can interpret easily.

Innovation means breaking away from the uniformity of conventional panels.In a market already crowded with CRP and PCT assays, novel combinations such as MxA + CRP or multi-marker respiratory panels can truly differentiate a brand.They bring fresh, simple, and direct clinical value, instead of repeating the same old tests.

In short, the policy opens the door, but execution determines who walks through it.
Companies that turn true adaptation and thoughtful innovation into real product strengths will be the ones to seize this opportunity.

Closing

China’s healthcare reform is steadily pushing diagnostic capability closer to the patient.
POCT is no longer a privilege of hospital emergency rooms; it is becoming the standard tool of private clinics.
And in this transformation, some of the simplest tools may bloom first — showing how policy, technology, and clinical demand can converge to deliver real value at the front line of care.