China has tightened restrictions on the medical equipment it can buy from the US, and some of the equipment is bizarre and expensive.
The restrictions come amid a tightening of a clamp on the production of medical equipment that was put in place after a massive wave of coronavirus cases.
It is not known whether the clamp has any impact on China’s production of the highly popular medical instruments used in the city, including the $300,000 wrist-watch.
The US-based manufacturer, Makersafe International, said it had started producing the watch on Tuesday, although the exact time of manufacture was not yet known.
Chinese state media reported that the watch will be available for sale to consumers in Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen starting on January 20, although there is no official date yet.
The clamp was introduced in January after the coronaviruses outbreak that began in the US and spread to other countries, killing more than 6,500 people and displacing tens of millions.
It has since become the subject of fierce criticism, with critics saying the restrictions have had little effect on production and that they only limit supply to the US.
“The US government is in the process of tightening the supply of medical supplies to China.
The clamp on medical equipment is part of the government’s anti-China policy,” said Zhu Rongguo, an analyst at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Zhu said there was no evidence that the US had taken any action to restrict production.
Makersafe, which manufactures wristwatches and other medical products, said its new wristwatch would have a lifespan of 100,000 to 150,000 hours.
It said it was the first time a US company had produced a medical instrument in China.
Its US parent company, Maker’safe, is owned by the United States’ biggest medical device maker, Theranos, and it is a member of Theranos’s joint venture with Chinese electronics giant Foxconn.
Last year, Foxconn announced it would invest $1.2 billion in China and hire more than 4,000 more workers.
Foxconn said it is investing in research and development of the company’s wearable smartwatches in order to “enable them to offer consumers the same value proposition and quality of products as in the United, China and China-owned companies”.
The watch will have a digital display and will be compatible with the iPhone 5s, the latest iPhones, Apple Watch Series 2 and Apple Watch 3, Fox said.
Some US manufacturers have already announced they will start selling watches from Foxconn, although Foxconn has yet to confirm its watches.
Many of the devices are produced by Foxconn’s other division, Shenzhen’s Industrial Group.
One of the more expensive items Foxconn is planning to introduce to China is a $500,000 watch made from a $50,000 bracelet.
Foxconn said the watch was not available in the country at the time of its announcement.
Other manufacturers have also announced plans to introduce watches from their own factories in China, including $200,000 watches made from plastic.
Fox’s wristwatch will have an initial life of 60,000-70,000, with a life-time of 100-150,000.
It is the first product from Fox’s new joint venture, with Foxconn and Theranos.
Despite the clamp, Fox has already begun selling the wristwatch in China from its headquarters in Shenzhen.
Meanwhile, the Shanghai Medical University, a major university, is trying to keep up with the coronovirus pandemic.
The university is also preparing to build a new facility, with about 6,000 workers, to help people with respiratory diseases.
This is the second year the university has closed down.