Sources from a scientific forum on medical equipment that convened in Beijing over the weekend said China has been the world's third largest medical equipment market after the United States and Japan with a 1.2 billion U.S. market value.

    According to statistics released at the forum, by the end this year the value of China's medical equipment market is expected to reach 1.7 billion dollars.

    The two-day forum was hosted by Philips Medical Systems, which convened more than 2,000 experts and businesses in the medical equipment sector.