China is showcasing its latest advances in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology and brain science applications at the 2025 Shenzhen Brain-Computer Interface & Human-Computer Interaction Expo, currently underway in Shenzhen, southern China's high-tech powerhouse.

A highlight of the event is the launch of a new AI innovation alliance for brain science and central nervous system diseases in the Greater Bay Area. The alliance will focus on three key areas: neurological drug innovation, BCI and AI-powered brain health and medical solutions, building a full-chain innovation platform from laboratories to clinical use.

At the expo, an 11.6-billion-yuan (about $165 million) brain science industry fund was also unveiled, alongside the signing of its first batch of proposed investment projects. The fund is designed to support companies from early-stage research to growth and commercialization, leveraging government investment to attract broader private capital.

BCI has been listed as a future-oriented strategic industry in the recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan. As a highly interdisciplinary field, BCI development requires close collaboration across neuroscience, materials science, chips, AI and clinical medicine, and is now moving steadily from experimental research toward clinical application.

This progress was underscored recently when Chinese researchers completed the country's first, and the world's second, fully implanted, battery-powered, wireless BCI clinical trial. The system enabled a patient with complete high-level spinal cord injury to interact with external devices using brain signals alone, offering new hope for daily life recovery, while allowing patients to operate the system without wearing any external equipment.

Beyond motor function recovery, Chinese researchers are also tackling one of the field's most challenging frontiers: visual reconstruction. Scientists at the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, are exploring implanted BCIs that deliver electrical stimulation directly within the brain, allowing the brain to "see" through electrical signals rather than the eyes.

By introducing a closed-loop feedback system, the team can continuously adjust stimulation parameters based on real-time brain responses, gradually improving the match between input signals and perceived images. The current prototype can restore visual perception to roughly 0.1 on the standard eyesight scale, approximately outlining object edges and enabling basic functions such as obstacle avoidance.