A number of the world's top medical device and pharmaceutical companies, including Siemens, Merck and GE Healthcare recently gathered at a networking session ahead of this November's China International Import Expo in town. 

Reporter: The companies are looking to tap China's growing in-home medical device market, for technologies such as this nebulizer that allow patients to breathe in hydrogen. 

Now the water has been added in, and the device is breaking it apart to make hydrogen and oxygen, and a patient would breathe that in to treat a number of conditions from controlling inflammation to slowing the development of cancer.

Xu Honghui, Deputy General Manager at Asclepius Meditec: By its nature, hydrogen very easily reacts with cancer-causing free radicals and then breaks them apart. We've used it on 400 to 500 cancer patients in China and Japan. Our lab and clinical tests have shown hydrogen to slow cancer cells from spreading.

Reporter: The home medical device companies say they see a growing market here, and not just for the elderly. 

Song Chao, Marketing Manager at Omron Healthcare China: We are investing in asthma control devices for children and portable electric pulse generators for young professionals to kill their shoulder pain. In the past, adults mostly bought health devices for their parents, and that made up more than 80 percent of our sales. But over the last couple of years, we have seen more adults buying for themselves, and that now makes up 40 percent of our revenue.

Zheng Hao, Senior Operations Manager at SPH KDL Health: We are already doing business with 50 percent of the companies here, and we're trying to network with the rest of them. Of course, we'll make a decision after we've known the specifics about their products.

Reporter: In 2017, China's medical device market was valued at more than 440 billion yuan, a 20 percent increase since the year before. So far, 800 exhibitors and buyers have appeared at five networking sessions. Organizers are also working on a website, where audience can see more than 4,000 exhibits that have now been confirmed.