Seven Ministries Issue China’s First National Policy Dedicated to the Brain-Computer Interface Industry
Summary in English. No official English translation of this policy has been published; the authoritative text is the Chinese original linked below. Figures and targets here are summarised from that original.
On 23 July 2025 seven Chinese government bodies — the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the National Health Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Medical Products Administration — jointly issued the Implementation Opinions on Promoting Innovative Development of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry (MIIT Lian Ke [2025] No. 164). It is the first national-level policy document in China devoted specifically to the BCI industry.
Targets
By 2027, the policy calls for breakthroughs in key BCI technologies and the initial establishment of advanced technology, industry and standards systems. Electrodes, chips and integrated products are to reach internationally advanced performance levels, with accelerated adoption across industrial manufacturing, healthcare and consumer applications. Two to three industrial clusters are to be built.
By 2030, the policy targets a safe and reliable industrial system, two to three globally influential leading enterprises alongside a group of specialised and innovative SMEs, and an internationally competitive industrial ecosystem placing China among the world’s front runners.
What the document covers
The Implementation Opinions are organised into seven parts. Beyond the overall approach and targets, they address:
Basic software and hardware. Implantable electrodes for epidural, subdural and intracortical placement plus exploration of endovascular electrodes; non-implantable electrodes using low-impedance, thin-dielectric materials; sensors based on light, electricity, magnetism, ultrasound and chemistry; high-channel acquisition chips, ultra-low-power processing chips and reliable communication chips; and encoding/decoding software, control software and dedicated operating systems.
High-performance products. Implantable devices integrating high-density recording sensors with ultra-low-power chips, alongside refinement of mature products such as deep brain stimulators, responsive stimulators and cochlear implants; non-implantable form factors including forehead-mounted, ear-mounted, in-ear and hairpin devices, and integration into helmets, head-mounted displays, glasses and headphones; and auxiliary equipment including multimodal physiological sensing and sub-micron-precision surgical robots.
Application and testing. Open competition mechanisms for key tasks, selection of replicable exemplary cases, supply-demand matchmaking, testing and evaluation institutions, product testing specifications, and pilot-production platforms.
Innovation actors. Cultivation of leading enterprises and tiered SME programmes, national innovation centres and key laboratories, open-source communities, and regional industrial clustering, including cooperation with the artificial intelligence, new materials and robotics sectors.
Support capacity. A technical standards system with a standardisation roadmap and participation in international standard-setting; ethics research, a data governance framework and protections against leakage of brain privacy; and talent cultivation through future technology colleges, industry-academia partnerships and overseas recruitment.
Safeguards. Coordination under the Central Science and Technology Commission, central-local collaboration, funding via the National Manufacturing Transformation and Upgrading Fund and the National SME Development Fund, priority registration guidance for implantable BCI medical devices, insurance compensation policies for first-unit and first-batch products, and measures to deepen international cooperation.