The world's largest medical device maker, Medtronic, entered the Chinese market in 1996. Due to its high-end technology, it soon become the leading provider of medical devices in China, with sales revenue exploding here and making faster gains than in the United States and Europe.

As growing numbers of similar providers overseas tend to sell their products directly to medical organisations, Medtronic in China still chooses to sell through authorized dealers.

However, this hasn't ensure fair competition among distributors, as Medtronic set minimum resale prices through monopoly agreements, which violated Article 14 of China's Anti-monopoly Law.

China launched a nationwide antitrust probe this year, investigating companies both at home and abroad. Previous cases included a 4 million yuan fine for five domestic medical companies, for monopoly actions in selling urate-lowering medicine this January.