Zhejiang Cuts BCI Device Review to 40 Days
The General Office of China's Zhejiang Provincial People's Government issued Several Measures for Promoting Industry-University-Research Coordination in Brain-Computer Interfaces, document number Zhe Zheng Ban Fa [2026] No. 33, dated July 16, 2026 and released on August 12, comprising 18 measures in five areas. Class II BCI devices of clear clinical value may enter a special review procedure with the timeline cut to within 40 working days, while medical consumables are listed through a green channel within 10 working days. Funding comes in four tiers: up to 10 million yuan for a provincial major science and technology project, up to 8 million yuan for research hospitals deeply involved in preclinical work and product launch, up to 3 million yuan for applied basic research, and 1 million, 500,000 and 100,000 yuan for leading international, national and local standards. Beds used solely for clinical research are exempt from efficiency and DRG performance assessment.
Why it matters
Forty working days is the shortest Class II device review pledge from any province, less than half the 90 days Shandong promised nine days earlier, marking review speed as a new axis of inter-provincial competition. The 8 million yuan tier goes to research hospitals rather than companies and pairs with an exemption of research beds from performance assessment, addressing why hospitals are reluctant to give up capacity.
