Chindex finalizes big Chinese deal

Distribution service company Chindex International of Bethesda, MD, this month finalized an agreement with China's Ministry of Public Health for the purchase of $14 million of medical equipment. Initiated in July, the agreement resulted from a partnership between China's Ministry of Health Foreign Loan Office, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Export-Import Bank, and China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and State Planning Commission (SCAN 7/22/98).

The deal was financed through a loan to the Bank of China in Beijing from ABN AMRO Bank of the Netherlands, and the loan was guaranteed by the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The transaction represents Chindex's second loan project for U.S. medical equipment.

Vendors included in the agreement are Acuson, Lunar, Steris, Johnson & Johnson Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, Trex Medical/XRE Division, and Nova Biomedical. Shipments of the equipment began in late 1998, and will continue through the first quarter of 1999.