Three years after a spinal cord injury left him paralyzed from the waist down, a patient surnamed Liu has become the first person in China to receive a brain-computer interface implant billed under the country’s new national pricing scheme.

The procedure was performed last week at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei province, where surgeons implanted a BCI device designed to capture neural signals linked to hand movement and sensory function. The surgery cost 6,552 yuan ($925), fully covered by research funding.

China sets prices for many procedures at public hospitals through national guidelines that define what can be charged and at what rates, a system introduced to curb rising medical expenses. Provinces then set their own caps within that framework.

In March, the National Healthcare Security Administration added invasive and non-invasive BCI procedures to the national medical pricing catalogue, setting a cap on their costs. Hubei — where Liu underwent surgery — became the first to finalize its own rates under the new rules.

Industry analysts widely view 2025 as the first real rollout year for the BCI sector, with development rapidly shifting from research to clinical trials, to full use. Data from the China Center for Information Industry Development show that the market size of BCI in China will exceed 3.8 billion yuan ($537 million) by the end of this year.

A representative from Tongji Hospital told domestic media that as BCI technology matures and clinical research grows, procedures are expected to be standardized much like other neurosurgical operations.

Tang Zhouping, head of Tongji Hospital, said that the surgery was significant not only for its technical achievement, but also because its inclusion in the official medical pricing system creates an institutional basis for scaling up clinical use of implantable BCIs.

Liu’s doctors said he is in stable condition. Before the procedure, he told medical staff: “As long as I’m still mentally sharp, I still have a chance to turn things around.”

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: From @央视网 on Weibo)