Mind Over Matter: Decoding China's BCI Push

Once popularised by Elon Musk's Neuralink, brain-computer interface (BCI) technology is now drawing major interest in China. We now look at how the country is stepping up research and investment to advance its own BCI ecosystem.

- Ayesha Siddiqui

A Chinese man who lost all four limbs in a high-voltage electrical accident 13 years ago can now play chess and racing games using only his mind. This is not a scene from Chrisopher Nolan’s sci-fi film, but the result of China’s first-in-human clinical trial of an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI)—a milestone in moving the technology from laboratory research to clinical application.

In this landmark case, a BCI device was implanted directly into his brain, allowing him to control digital environments purely through neural signals. The trial, a collaboration between the Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology (CEBSIT) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Huashan Hospital, makes China the second country after the United States to advance invasive BCI technology to the clinical trial stage.

Since the device was implanted in March 2025, it has functioned stably with no infection or electrode failure, according to the research team. The scientists expect that, pending regulatory approval, the system could reach the market by 2028. It holds significant potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people suffering from complete spinal cord injuries, double upper-limb amputations, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

China’s progress extends beyond mobility restoration. Researchers at the Beijing Institute for Brain Research achieved the country’s first clinical application of a wireless implanted Chinese-language BCI system, marking a breakthrough for speech-disability interventions. These developments highlight the speed at which China’s neurotechnology field is moving from experimentation to real-world applications.