Chinese startups and research groups are developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can be implanted much less invasively than Neuralink’s implants. One approach involves inserting the device through blood vessels, similar to a stent. In some clinical trials, doctors say they can place the device in about 10 minutes.
Chinese startups and research groups are developing brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) that can be implanted much less invasively than Neuralink’s implants. One approach involves inserting the device through blood vessels, similar to a stent. In some clinical trials, doctors say they can place the device in about 10 minutes.
China is accelerating the development of brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies and, at the same time, is forming its own competitors to Elon Musk’s American Neuralink.
One area that Chinese companies and medical centers are currently actively exploring is minimally invasive implantation of BCIs through blood vessels. Instead of opening the skull and directly inserting electrodes into the brain, the device is guided through the vascular system to the desired area.
This is exactly the approach that a Shanghai startup is developing. StairMed Technology. The company is working on implantable BCIs, and among its technological areas it explicitly mentions minimally invasive implantation.
The device is planned to be guided through blood vessels in the neck directly to the brain, according to StairMed co-founder Zhao Zhengtu. The company also announced a collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Sciences last year to develop such an approach.
Separately, a similar technology is being studied at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University. According to Duan Wanzhu, the chief physician, a doctor with about four to five years of surgical experience can position the device in about 10 minutes.
This is not yet a ready-made mass technology. Some of these developments are in the preclinical or early clinical testing stages. For example, StairMed reports ongoing clinical trials of its implantable BCIs, but this does not mean that its vascular implant is already available to patients as a ready-made commercial product.
However, it is important that the Chinese BCI race has already gone beyond the laboratories.
In March 2026, China’s NMPA approved Neuracle Technology’s NEO, an implantable BCI. China called it the world’s first invasive BCI to receive market approval.
Designed for people with quadriplegia following cervical spinal cord injuries, NEO collects brain signals and decodes them into commands that the patient can use to control a pneumatic glove, such as performing hand movements.
That is, Chinese developers are competing with Neuralink not only with presentations or laboratory prototypes. China already has an invasive BCI with regulatory approval for commercial use.
StairMed, however, is taking a slightly different approach. The company is developing ultra-flexible electrodes and an implantable wireless BCI system. According to the Shanghai Observer, its electrodes are about 1/100th the diameter of a human hair, which should reduce tissue damage and immune response.
For Beijing, BCI is not just a medical product. It is the intersection of several strategic technologies: artificial intelligence, semiconductors, neuroscience, robotics, and medtech.
Researchers who recently analyzed the Chinese BCI ecosystem counted 134 registered clinical trials, 26 investigator-initiated trials, and five BCI products with regulatory approvals as of June 2026. However, the majority of registered trials are non-invasive, and one of the main areas of application remains stroke rehabilitation.
The Chinese government has also set a specific goal for the industry to create two or three world-class BCI companies by 2030. In comparison, Neuralink has already performed a number of human implants, but its technology remains much more invasive: the device is implanted directly into the brain through a surgical procedure.
