China wants to become world leader in circumcision hardware

China wants a bigger slice of the global health market and it has a new tactic for getting it: circumcision.

The World Health Organization has approved the quality and production of a Chinese circumcision device to aid HIV prevention. The disposable device, called ShangRing and named after its inventor Shang Jianzhong, is made up of two concentric plastic rings that fit over a penis, clamping its foreskin so that it can be removed easily.

The device, which doesn’t require hospital surgical facilities, will be key in reducing HIV transmission, the WHO said in a statement. Trials in African countries such as Kenya, Uganda and South Africa have shown that male circumcision reduces the risk of infection in men by 60%, the WHO said.

The approval, a so-called “prequalification” that signals international organizations that it’s okay to use the product, is meaningful for China, which wants to play a bigger role on the global health stage and burnish its image overseas by offering humanitarian aid. Though criticized for a slow response to the Ebola outbreak that mounted in West Africa last year, China contributed more than $100 million to the effort to fight the virus and has become a key player in containing it.

It’s also big news for China’s medical companies, which are trying to build prowess at home and overseas. The potential pool for profits in the Chinese healthcare market alone is projected to reach $113 billion in 2020, more than quadrupling the 2010 profit from the sector, according to consultancy Bain & Co. The global profit pool by 2020 is expected to reach $740 billion, according to Bain.

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