2025 Digital Healthcare Annual Innovation White Paper: AI Implementation Dominates, Brain-Computer Interfaces Enter Peak of Clinical Trials

In 2025,Digital HealthcareThe industry is experiencing vigorous growth driven by technological innovation and capital investment, with particularly significant breakthroughs in the two core areas of artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces, injecting powerful momentum into the sector's development.

The integration of artificial intelligence and the healthcare sector continues to deepen, becoming the core engine driving industry development.By 2025, the cumulative number of approved AI-powered medical devices had reached 207, accelerating the pace of technological implementation. Capital markets maintained strong enthusiasm, with a single financing round exceeding 1 billion yuan, highlighting the industry's growth potential. In application scenarios, AI has successfully empowered critical areas including clinical trial optimization, personalized health management, insurance service innovation, and regional healthcare coordination, achieving a leap from technological development to practical value.

The field of brain-computer interfaces is simultaneously experiencing a period of explosive growth, with the accelerated advancement of clinical trials becoming the most prominent industry characteristic.In 2025, multiple clinical trial achievements secured international firsts and delivered global breakthroughs, propelling China's growing influence in this field on the global stage. The capital front also delivered impressive results, with a single financing round of 350 million yuan setting a new industry record and providing robust support for technology commercialization. Notably, the deep integration of artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces has emerged as a new industry trend, unlocking fresh possibilities for cross-sector convergence in digital healthcare.

This white paper, based on in-depth research and interviews with over a dozen digital healthcare innovators, leading investment institutions, and seasoned industry experts, systematically examines the current state of China's digital healthcare sectors—including medical AI and brain-computer interfaces—from both industry dynamics and corporate practice perspectives. It comprehensively analyzes the core characteristics and key breakthroughs expected by 2025, It offers a forward-looking outlook on industry trends for 2026, aiming to provide valuable insights and guidance for industry participants.

Key Points and Conclusions

Reviewing Key Trends in the Digital Healthcare Industry for 2025: A Three-Dimensional Perspective on Policy, Products, and Capital

(1) Policy Intensification: Focusing on Practical Implementation, Achieving Breakthroughs Across Multiple Payment Domains

Digital healthcare, as a quintessential policy-driven industry, has seen its development trajectory deeply intertwined with national strategic planning. From foundational healthcare IT infrastructure to innovative internet-based medical models, and then to the leapfrog development of integrated digital healthcare technologies, China has consistently advanced industry iteration and upgrading through systematic policy provision. Since 2025, government agencies have rolled out multiple significant policies to actively advance the application and development of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces in healthcare. Through measures encompassing standard-setting, industry support, price management, and strengthened oversight, China is building a comprehensive policy ecosystem to foster digital transformation and innovative development within the healthcare sector.

Key Policies in Various Digital Healthcare Sectors Over the Years (Blue dots indicate 2025 policies)

Artificial Intelligence: Focusing on application scenarios, with the core objective of driving practical implementation.In August 2025, the State Council officially released the “Guiding Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the ”AI+“ Initiative,” marking China's first specialized action plan in the field of artificial intelligence. This signifies a comprehensive transition in China's AI development from the “technological breakthrough” phase to a new stage characterized by “scenario implementation, industrial empowerment, and universal sharing.” Among these, the healthcare sector was explicitly designated as one of six key integration areas, with policy benefits becoming more targeted and actionable. Reviewing policies from national to regional levels throughout 2025 reveals four distinct trends in China's AI policy landscape: “application-driven, scenario-centric,” “regulatory innovation with pilot encouragement,” “focus on primary healthcare to promote AI penetration,” and "full-industry-chain collaboration for systematic implementation."

Brain-Computer Interface: Listed as one of the “Six Major"pendingOne of the ”key industries," with an independent pricing category established for the first time.“A series of landmark national policies—including the ”first industry standard for brain-computer interface medical devices“ and the ”first independent pricing category established for brain-computer interface technology“—have been successively introduced, injecting robust momentum into the development of the brain-computer interface industry. The ”Implementation Opinions on Promoting the Innovative Development of the Brain-Computer Interface Industry“ and the ”Proposals of the CPC Central Committee on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development" have been released, designating brain-computer interfaces as one of the "six key future industries" for strategic development. This marks a significant elevation of the industry, formally advancing it from a frontier research field to a national industrial strategy.

Healthcare Big Data: Interdepartmental Collaboration and Data Integration Accelerate the Monetization of Medical Data Assets.China's data has undergone a transformative leap from being a “factor” to becoming an “asset.” The concept of data assetization has also emerged as a recurring theme in policy documents in recent years. By 2025, multiple policies in the field of medical big data will be formally implemented, showcasing distinct features of “cross-departmental coordination and data linkage.” These policies directly address critical pain points in the process of medical data assetization—from rights confirmation to valuation and circulation. From national top-level design to regional implementation, China's healthcare big data policy framework now spans the entire lifecycle of “compliant rights confirmation—value assessment—circulation and trading,” establishing a robust institutional foundation for compliant data flow and value realization.

Healthcare Informatization: The policy framework is mature, with implementation and refinement of details as the primary focus.After over three decades of development, the healthcare IT industry has achieved large-scale construction driven by policy tailwinds such as “smart healthcare” and “Internet Plus healthcare.” It has now entered a plateau phase characterized by “improved infrastructure and established standards.” Without fundamental policy reforms by 2025, the industry will primarily focus on cross-sector collaboration and detailed refinement within the existing policy framework.

Digital Marketing: Core constraints center on two key dimensions—compliance and data security.From a policy perspective, healthcare anti-corruption efforts have promoted standardized drug sales practices, while professional regulations for medical representatives have encouraged a return to the essence of academic promotion. Policies such as centralized procurement and national negotiations have driven companies to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and optimize sales expenditure, all of which have elevated the importance of digital marketing to varying degrees. Furthermore, as the healthcare service chain expands and digital technology advances, the necessity of digital marketing will continue to grow. Currently, no dedicated policy documents have been issued for digital marketing in the healthcare sector. Industry development remains indirectly guided by cross-sector regulations and technology policies, with core constraints centered on two dimensions: compliance and data security.

Digital Therapeutics: Clarify Pricing Principles and Pathways to Address the Industry's Greatest Challenge.In 2025, the nation's first digital therapeutics payment policy and the first dedicated regulatory policy for digital therapeutics were successively released, marking the industry's transition from a chaotic phase of “unregulated growth” to a path of “standardized development.”

(2) Product Upgrades: AI large-model products have proliferated, with brain-computer interface technology now on par with international standards.

By 2025, all segments of digital healthcare have undergone product and technological upgrades and iterations. It is worth noting that products/solutions in the digital therapeutics sector have reached maturity, with no major breakthrough products/solutions emerging in 2025. Meanwhile, the healthcare IT sector has accelerated the integration of AI into its products/solutions, resulting in significant overlap with the medical AI domain. Given these two factors, we will not delve into detailed analysis of these two areas at this time.

■ Large Models: Medical Large Models Break Through Boundaries, Empowering Healthcare AI Development Across Multiple Dimensions

The 2025 medical large model ushered in explosive growth and promoted the development and landing of AI applications in multiple dimensions from performance, price, and market. In terms of performance, model-enabled AI application performance upgrade and model-as-product are the two mainstream models. Next is the price, which is determined by the DeepSeek As well as the domestic chip progress brought about by the decline in product development costs, so that AI application products have a more flexible, more attractive pricing space; Finally, the market, DeepSeek in the performance improvement and cost reduction, the role of the market to promote education should not be underestimated, the medical community, including the entire community, intuitively feel the charm of the big model and its imaginative potential.

Number of Medical Large Models Released Between 2023 and 2025 / Classification and Characteristics of Medical Large Models

Medical agents derived from large models are also showing a trend toward specialization in specific medical fields and diseases.Artery Intelligence has compiled nearly 160 specialized vertical large models/agents for specific diseases and specialties from public sources, revealing multi-dimensional extensions across application scenarios. Radiology stands out as one of the most prevalent application areas. Shukun Technology's “ShukunKun Multimodal Healthcare Large Model 3.0” deeply integrates multimodal data to provide clinicians with an all-knowing “digital physician” assistant. In oncology applications, JD Health actively explores developing large models for multiple disease-specific specialties. For instance, it collaborates with Peking University Cancer Hospital to build a digestive tract disease model covering esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers. With Guangzhou Medical University First Affiliated Hospital, it constructs a respiratory disease model supporting diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and pneumonia. In laboratory settings, Roche Diagnostics“ AI-powered digital service solution ”Roche e-Service“ enables intelligent and lean laboratory management across three domains: smart operations, project planning, and clinical empowerment. These specialty-specific large models not only enable deep reasoning across all diseases, processes, and elements within their fields but also integrate the entire service chain from ”diagnosis – image interpretation – treatment." This ensures AI empowerment permeates every critical stage of disease prevention and management.

Healthcare institutions have become a crucial part of the AI manufacturing process.The breakthroughs in large models have also attracted more hospital experts to participate in collaborative research. According to incomplete statistics, the number and proportion of large models developed with hospital participation (including those developed independently by hospitals) have increased year by year, rising from 71 TP4T in 2023 to 261 TP4T in 2025. For instance, Shenzhou Medical has partnered with leading medical institutions such as the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Fujian Children's Hospital, and Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University to jointly develop specialty-specific large models and intelligent agents. In 2025, they intensively released 20 specialized large models, including a peritoneal dialysis model, the “Fuxing” AI model for childhood and adolescent obesity, and the “Zhishen” comprehensive management model for chronic kidney disease. MedTech's “Little Liver Man” AI agent for liver cancer diagnosis and treatment, jointly developed with Academician Teng Gaojun's team, deeply integrates evidence-based medical systems. It comprehensively aggregates guidelines from the National Health Commission, CACA, and multi-industry liver disease standards and consensus, aiming to create a liver cancer specialist “AI doctor” with expert-level diagnostic and treatment logic. This collaborative research model undoubtedly promotes the deep integration of high-quality medical data, professional know-how, and technology. This creates superior products that enhance clinical practice, forming a virtuous cycle.

Word Cloud of Specialized Medical Entities / Proportion of Participants in Large Model R&D from 2023 to 2025

■ AI medical device approvals become routine, with applications extending throughout the entire healthcare journey

As the review and approval system matures, the efficiency of industry registration and market access continues to improve, driving sustained high-speed growth in AI medical devices. By December 5, 2025, a cumulative total of 207 AI medical devices had obtained Class III medical device registration certificates. Since the start of 2025, 41 new devices have been approved, aligning with recent trends as the industry has achieved over 40 annual approvals for three consecutive years.

Product capabilities are progressively breaking free from single-process limitations and expanding into diverse scenarios. While AI for auxiliary diagnosis remains dominant, new applications such as radiation therapy planning, clinical management, and surgical planning/simulation are accelerating deployment. Clinical management functions are also advancing, shifting from diagnosis-centric processes toward integrated “diagnosis and treatment” capabilities. Looking at departmental distribution, AI medical devices see broad application in oncology, cardiology, radiation oncology, and neurology. Taking oncology—the most concentrated application area—as an example, its indications primarily focus on prostate cancer and lung cancer, with core functions centered on diagnostic assistance and radiation therapy. Siemens Healthineers' October approval for its prostate cancer MRI image-based detection software exemplifies such AI medical devices. Utilizing deep learning technology, it displays, processes, measures, and analyzes prostate MRI images to assist in detecting suspected prostate adenocarcinoma lesions in untreated adult patients aged 40 and above. Clinically, it enhances physician image interpretation quality and reduces unnecessary biopsies.

Approval Status of Three Categories of Certificates for Different Functions and Departments of Artificial Intelligence Products

■ AI is rapidly permeating every aspect of healthcare, with significant results in four major application scenarios.

As AI product capabilities advance, market acceptance and trust grow, and commercialization environments mature, AI is rapidly permeating every facet of the healthcare sector. We segment this into drug R&D and manufacturing, in-hospital applications (including clinical and hospital-side), out-of-hospital health services, payment and distribution, and regional regulation. The "2025 Healthcare Artificial Intelligence Industry Research Report" released by Artery Intelligence at the end of 2025 focused on in-hospital applications, providing an in-depth analysis of AI application and commercialization progress. Therefore, this report will concentrate on the remaining AI application segments, analyzing the prominent achievements and advancements across each sub-sector by 2025.

A Comprehensive Overview of Artificial Intelligence Applications Across Healthcare Sub-Sectors

AI permeates the entire clinical trial process, marking a leap from an “efficiency tool” to a “value tool.”By 2025, enterprises will differentiate their services through overseas expansion and building international clinical trial capabilities. They will gradually leverage AI to differentiate their products, enabling real-time risk assessment during clinical trials. Beyond serving as efficiency tools to shorten trial timelines, these solutions will also enhance success rates. For instance, Yilin Cloud integrates AI across its entire product line to create a digital management platform covering the entire clinical trial lifecycle. This platform drives efficiency gains and cost reductions in clinical trials while providing endpoint assessment solutions. It enables real-time monitoring of data quality and trial risks, supports critical decision-making, and dynamically enhances success rates and compliance.

AI seamlessly integrates the entire ecosystem of out-of-hospital health services, with comprehensive health management as the core focus.In the field of outpatient health services, comprehensive health management applications will be the absolute hotspot for AI implementation by 2025. This trend is driven by the convergence of policy, technology, market dynamics, and demand. We observe an increasing number of mature digital health management solutions emerging in the industry. Companies are actively developing their own large models and leveraging them to create unique personalized health management solutions, thereby strengthening product moats and enhancing corporate competitiveness. For instance, CyberNavigator has developed its proprietary medical large model for disease risk assessment, building a full-cycle digital health management platform that drives the industry's transition from “single services” to “ecosystem collaboration.” Ping An Good Doctor leverages its self-developed “Ping An Medical Expert” large model to build a “7+N+1” medical AI product system, enhancing access to quality healthcare resources. Yuanxin Technology's “Yuanquan Partner AI Cluster” empowers pharmacies to significantly improve health management compliance, enables hospitals to enhance quality and efficiency, and supports insurance providers by offering policyholders faster, more convenient underwriting and claims services. LJ Health leverages the “Tianrui Qiyuan Medical Large Model,” using its platform as a carrier and AI as its core, to coordinate nationwide premium medical resources. It delivers comprehensive digital health solutions covering physical examinations, chronic disease management, and home care services.

AI empowers the entire insurance service process, helping to create diverse insurance products.The sales, underwriting, and claims settlement processes of an insurance policy all involve substantial data collection and analysis. However, this series of tedious, labor-intensive tasks with clear standards and procedures aligns perfectly with AI's enabling characteristics, and AI implementation in this field has already reached a high level of maturity. Take QingSong Health as an example. As a crucial component of its service ecosystem, its digital comprehensive insurance business has developed the AIcare large model. This model empowers the entire insurance economic service process, connecting 58 insurance companies and 294 insurance products. It not only integrates AI throughout the digital comprehensive insurance service workflow but also provides this technology to insurance partners to enhance quality and efficiency.

AI facilitates the flow of medical data, driving the sustainable development of medical artificial intelligence.Current healthcare data faces the challenges of “siloed, low-quality, and heterogeneous” information. Among these, cross-institutional data retrieval rates remain below 15%, unstructured data accounts for over 70%, and data loss or miscoding exceeds 30%. Addressing these challenges requires significant repetitive effort. Theoretically, specialized artificial intelligence can be developed to resolve these issues, and relevant applications have already emerged in the industry. For instance, China Healthcare Group collaborated with the Shenzhen Health Development Research and Data Management Center to establish the nation's first local government-led multimodal clinical diagnosis and treatment universal data model (SZ-CDM). This model standardized and integrated 34 business tables and 1,042 data fields, overcoming the challenge of cross-system data mapping.

■ Brain-Computer Interfaces: Rapid Advancements in Technology and Clinical Trials, Supporting Industry Chain Accelerating Formation

Technological development has accelerated significantly, with breakthrough achievements across all specialized fields, propelling the sector to the forefront globally.In the invasive domain, Ladder Medical completed the world's second prospective clinical trial for an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI), positioning BrainTiger as the only company globally to simultaneously master real-time motor decoding and real-time Chinese language decoding technologies for invasive BCIs. In the semi-invasive domain, the “Brain Tiger I” achieved multiple human implants, setting global benchmarks in signal acquisition and core technologies. Its GCP multi-center clinical trial launch signifies the research's progression toward standardized validation. In the interventional domain, the Nankai University team completed the world's first trial for restoring motor function in affected limbs. In the non-invasive domain, BCI companies like StrongBrain Technology continue to expand their product portfolios.

The industry is accelerating its transition from the “proof-of-concept” phase to the “clinical application” stage.The number of brain-computer interface clinical trials registered has shown a significant upward trend in recent years. Registrations from January to October 2025 have already matched the total for 2024, with the full year expected to set a new record. This growth is not only reflected in quantity but also in the quality of translation—while 48% trials remain in the early exploratory phase, trials related to new therapeutic technologies (including Phase I, II, and III) have increased from 14 (with only 1 reaching Phase III) prior to February 2024 to 20 trials, indicating the technology is steadily advancing toward clinical validation.

The industrial chain is accelerating the establishment of platforms for clinical translation of technologies.Driven by favorable policies and technological breakthroughs, China's supporting industrial chain for brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) is rapidly taking shape. Notable developments include the first clinical application of domestically produced BCI chips, the launch of the nation's first BCI medical insurance data research center, and the world's first customized MRI platform for BCI interaction. Additionally, multiple regions have proactively established dedicated BCI research wards by 2025, providing a robust foundation for clinical technology translation. According to incomplete statistics, as of October, 41 clinical research wards and centers dedicated to brain-computer interfaces have been established nationwide. Key research indications include: consciousness and cognitive disorders (vegetative states, Alzheimer's disease), and epilepsy and neurodevelopmental disorders (epilepsy, ADHD, autism, language disorders, sleep disorders).

Number of Brain-Computer Interface Research Units Nationwide and Their Primary Indications

■ Healthcare Big Data: Advancing Data Monetization and Entering the Phase of Deep Value Exploration

The development of trusted data spaces is in full swing, with healthcare applications already being implemented.According to Artery Orange Database, as of October 2025, 40 health data assets were listed on online data exchanges, significantly surpassing the 24 assets recorded in 2024. Guided by the Trusted Data Space Development Action Plan (2024–2028), data resources achieved efficient and secure sharing and utilization. On July 16, 2025, the National Data Administration announced the first batch of pilot projects for trusted data space innovation and development, with seven healthcare industry initiatives included. Additionally, companies such as Beidian Digital Intelligence, Digital China, and Neusoft Group officially launched trusted healthcare data space solutions in 2025, with successful case implementations already underway. Neusoft Group's “Trusted Data Space for Medical Insurance” focuses on the synergy of medical insurance, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare. It has been implemented in three key scenarios: AI-powered intelligent supervision of medical insurance funds, pharmaceutical retail and smart healthcare, and personalized intelligent health management services. This solution provides data-driven approaches to medical insurance payment reform and pharmaceutical industry innovation.

The secondary utilization of medical data is accelerating, with value extraction continuously deepening.The secondary utilization of hospital data in China has entered a phase of large-scale implementation, exhibiting a differentiated development pattern characterized by foundational applications as the primary focus and research support as a secondary function. From a technological perspective, AI is no longer merely an auxiliary element. Vendors are actively adopting AI technologies, including large models, deeply integrating them across the entire chain—from data governance and clinical services to operational management. In terms of application scenarios, the depth of value extraction from medical big data continues to expand. It has evolved from single-module applications within hospitals to a full-scenario closed loop covering operational optimization, precision clinical diagnosis and treatment, and outpatient chronic disease management. Furthermore, its reach extends into cross-industry domains such as pharmaceutical and medical device R&D, and commercial insurance innovation. In August 2025, Deepwise Medical launched the Deepwise TrioData X multimodal medical data large model capability platform. Centered on the core proposition of “reconstructing the value of medical data,” it innovatively establishes a full-stack closed-loop system of “data governance – capability innovation – Scenario Implementation,” transforming vast multi-source data into a high-quality, trustworthy data asset center. This empowers medical institutions at all levels across clinical practice, research, management, and AI innovation capabilities.

■ Digital Marketing: Patient-Centered Services Drive Strategic Focus on Health Management Solutions

The focus of digital marketing is shifting toward “patient services.”The evolution of policies, patient awareness, and market dynamics has driven digital marketing away from its traditional physician-centric approach toward a dual-focus model centered on both physicians and patients—or even a patient-centric approach. This shift has reoriented the overall marketing focus toward “patient services.”

Effective marketing content and health management services remain scarce. In recent years, significant progress has been made with the support of artificial intelligence, such as digital doctors and AI health managers, which have provided substantial assistance. Beyond directly reducing labor costs, these innovations have enhanced the standardization of health management services and established a stronger foundation for data collection and analysis.

(3) Capital Market Performance: AI+ healthcare companies queue up for IPOs, brain-computer interface technology surges in popularity

■ Primary Market: AI and Brain-Computer Interface Both Set New Annual Funding Records

AI in healthcare is making significant strides against the odds, with funding records being broken repeatedly, emerging as a standout highlight in the broader health sector.Whether empowering health management, assisting diagnosis/imaging analysis, or hospital administration, AI is demonstrating its value in driving technological innovation to address industry pain points. United Imaging Intelligence completed a RMB 1 billion Series A financing round in June, marking not only a key breakthrough in its own development but also the largest single investment in the digital healthcare sector within the research period. In 2025, funding activity in the brain-computer interface (BCI) sector intensified, with distinct development trajectories emerging between invasive and non-invasive segments. The invasive segment saw eight funding events, including three large-scale transactions worth hundreds of millions of yuan, highlighting the significant financing scale and industry influence of leading companies. The non-invasive segment recorded 11 funding events, predominantly early-stage investments, indicating the sector remains in a rapid growth phase.

Capital Events Exceeding 100 Million Yuan in Funding in 2025 (As of October 2025)

■ Secondary Market: AI Firms Flock to Hong Kong Exchange, Brain-Computer Interface Sector Gains Momentum

The Hong Kong IPO market rebounded in 2025. From June to October, seven companies—including those in medical AI—completed the entire process from submitting prospectuses and updating filings to obtaining listing approvals. These firms span various segments of the AI healthcare industry chain, collectively demonstrating the Hong Kong market's capital appeal for AI healthcare ventures and the listing surge among healthcare companies driven by policy support.

The healthcare IT sector achieved modest growth driven by policy initiatives. The policy mandate to implement DRG/DIP payment systems nationwide by the end of 2025, coupled with the marketization of healthcare data entering an explosive phase, will directly spur demand for upgrading hospital-side medical insurance settlement systems. Companies specializing in healthcare IT services are poised to benefit from these developments.

Policy tailwinds have propelled brain-computer interface (BCI) concept stocks to sustained gains. Several listed companies are entering the BCI field through diverse approaches including “in-house R&D, supporting equipment supply, strategic investments, and collaborative partnerships.” Among them, Chengyitong, Innovation Medical, and Xinwei Medical have emerged as sector leaders with significant gains—28.01%, 18.01%, and 17.21% respectively—driven by tangible technological progress.

■ Major M&A Deal: Leading HIT Firm Valued at Over 10 Billion Sold, Healthcare IT Sector Poised for Merger Wave

The acquisitions of Yicai Medical Management and Yihui Technology indicate reduced demand for information systems at the hospital end. This stems from two factors: First, no new mandatory policy requirements have been introduced for smart hospital ratings. Most hospitals that have already met the policy requirements for rating have shifted their focus from pursuing higher-level ratings to consolidating their existing rating achievements. This involves further converting the enhanced diagnostic and treatment capabilities and optimized patient services gained through rating into tangible operational value for the hospital. Second, the comprehensive implementation of DRG/DIP payment reforms has driven hospitals to shift their operational strategies from “scale expansion” to “lean operations.” This transition has significantly reduced demand for non-core, non-essential IT projects.

2025 Insights on Most Valuable Sectors and Product Competitiveness

Innovative products and solutions are emerging across all segments of the digital healthcare industry. Based on an assessment of both demand scale and the level of innovation activity in products/solutions, Artery Intelligence has identified two high-value areas: medical artificial intelligence and brain-computer interfaces. We will conduct an in-depth analysis of the core competitive strengths of innovations within these fields.

2025 High-Value Areas in Digital Healthcare

Source: Artery News