Launched on August 3, the Fudan University Neuromodulation and BCI Research Center in Shanghai is expected to foster innovation to realize the revolutionary potential of BCI technology in the medical and healthcare industries, such as restoring vision to the blind and mobility to paralyzed patients.

The 400 million yuan ($56 million) research center at Fudan University comes as China continues to push for breakthrough technology development in a race for technological dominance with the United States, the longtime leader in BCI research.

The new research center aims to bridge the gap between brain disease research and industry, Fudan University said on its website.

The center represents a systematic integration of the university's brain science-related resources and is expected to promote the clinical application and industrialization of BCI.

In December 2021, the Shanghai municipal government listed rehabilitation and training equipment with BCI technology as a focus for developing high-end medical equipment in the city's latest five-year plan.

BCI is one of the future industries that the central government has been particularly promoting as a "new quality productive force," a concept of innovative, high-tech development put forward by President Xi Jinping about a year ago.

In January, Beijing released official guidelines on developing emerging industries, which emphasize the industrialization of BCI technologies.

Accordingly, the country encourages "breakthroughs in key technologies and devices such as brain-computer fusion technology and brain-like chips, as well as exploring applications in typical fields such as medical rehabilitation".

A BCI lab was also established in March 2023 in the northeastern port city of Tianjin near Beijing. In May this year, the lab established the BCI and Human-Machine Fusion Association, with more than 40 financial institutions, research institutes and state-owned companies participating, according to the Tianjin Science and Technology Bureau.

The US has been at the forefront of BCI technology for many years, with significant research contributions from the University of California, Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Neuralink, the BCI pioneer co-founded by Elon Musk in 2016, has just announced that it has successfully implanted a second paralyzed patient with a device designed to allow the use of digital devices using only thought,

In February, scientists at China's Tsinghua University reported "breakthrough progress" in their first patient with a wireless BCI implant, saying their device was less invasive than Musk's Neuralink chip.

China is also racing to set industry standards for future technology, including key ethical concerns such as privacy, safety and autonomy, and issued guidelines in February to regulate the development and application of BCI research.

Ngoc Anh (according to SCMP)