State-funded push for brain chips exceeding Neuralink: Seven Chinese ministries unveil a 17-point strategy, with human trials involving chess games on the horizon

The Chinese government has published a policy document titled "Implementation Plan for Promoting Innovation and Development of the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) Industry." This ambitious roadmap, spanning over a decade, aims to build an internationally competitive BCI industry within five years and make China a global leader in this burgeoning field by 2030.

The policy document integrates industrial planning, medical regulation, and research oversight into a single, coordinated playbook. This streamlined approach, reminiscent of China's model in other tech sectors, could potentially shave years off the lab-to-market timeline compared to the U.S. FDA trials and compliance requirements.

The roadmap includes 17 specific measures, ranging from core R&D to commercialization. Priorities include developing ultralow-power implantable chips, refining electrode materials to minimize scarring, creating algorithms for real-time decoding of thought into commands, and scaling up manufacturing lines for non-invasive wearables.

Chinese organizations developing independently designed BCI chips aiming for market leadership include state-backed initiatives under the Chinese government's five-year innovation plan announced in August 2025. These initiatives focus on promoting BCI technology advancement to surpass competitors like Neuralink by 2027. While no specific private Chinese companies have been named in the search results, this plan involves multi-ministry collaboration to boost domestic BCI chip development.

One to two million Chinese patients could potentially benefit from BCIs as assistive technology. Clinical trials in China have demonstrated that patients implanted with cortical arrays can navigate smartphone apps and play chess with neural inputs. State media describes plans for "significant progress in the development of BCI chips" and high-performance communications silicon designed to filter and transmit neural signals in real time.

Beijing is positioning BCI as both a medical revolution and a consumer electronics platform. Phoenix Peng, co-founder of BCI leader NeuroXess, believes noninvasive BCI products will see a huge market boost in China due to its dominance in consumer electronics manufacturing. Chinese teams have already developed cortical electrodes with 128 simultaneous channels, designed to minimize scarring and extend the useful life of implants.

The goal is to push BCIs beyond the lab and into clinical use by 2027, with full-fledged domestic champions in place by 2030. Silicon Valley is encouraged to take note of China's BCI development and plans, as the policy document aims to make China a major player in the BCI industry, reducing reliance on foreign semiconductors while giving domestic firms control over the most sensitive layer of the BCI stack.

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State-funded push for brain chips exceeding Neuralink: Seven Chinese ministries unveil a 17-point strategy, with human trials involving chess games on the horizon