On September 10, 2026, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), National Health Commission (NHC), and National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) jointly issued the Notice on Organizing the 2026 High-End Medical Equipment Promotion and Application Program.

The 2026 program covers five major areas, 16 priority medical equipment products and one typical application scenario, for a total of 17 categories.

Products applying under the priority product categories are required to have obtained Chinese medical device registration certificates. For the typical application scenario, the core medical devices used in the project must also hold Chinese medical device registration certificates.

17 Categories Cover Five Major Areas

The 2026 program covers five major areas: diagnostic testing, treatment, monitoring and life support, elderly care and rehabilitation, and AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment.

The diagnostic testing category includes automated coagulation analyzers, gene sequencers, automated nucleic acid purification and real-time fluorescence PCR systems, phased-array CT systems, ENT cone-beam CT systems, intravascular ultrasound systems, and multifunctional magnetocardiography and magnetoencephalography systems.

The treatment category includes MRI-guided intracranial laser ablation systems, confocal laser endomicroscopy systems, digital surgical microscopes and three-dimensional cardiac electrophysiology mapping systems.

The program also includes products in monitoring and life support, elderly care and rehabilitation, and AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment.

In addition to the 16 product categories, one typical application scenario is included: a remote laparoscopic surgery center.

Brain-Computer Interfaces and Other Emerging Technologies Included

Among the listed products, an implantable brain-computer interface system for hand motor function compensation is included under the elderly care and rehabilitation category.

According to the technical requirements, the system should provide an EEG sampling rate of at least 1,000 Hz and motor rehabilitation decoding accuracy of at least 85%. Requirements are also specified for implant temperature rise and wireless power transmission distance.

An implantable MRI-compatible spinal cord stimulation system is also included. The system is required to support 1.5T whole-body MRI compatibility, posture-adaptive stimulation and scheduled stimulation.

The inclusion of these products brings implantable neurotechnology into the 2026 high-end medical equipment promotion program.

Remote Laparoscopic Surgery Included as a Typical Application Scenario

Remote laparoscopic surgery is included as the only typical application scenario in the 2026 program.

The remote laparoscopic surgery center should support cross-regional remote surgery and cover at least two specialties among urology, general surgery, gynecology and thoracic surgery.

Supported network configurations may include 5G, dedicated fiber connections, Ethernet and wired broadband, either individually or in combination.

Unlike the other categories, this section focuses on an integrated clinical application scenario rather than a single product. The core medical devices used in the project must already have obtained Chinese medical device registration certificates.

Phased-Array CT, Gene Sequencing and Other Products Face Detailed Technical Requirements

The program also sets specific technical thresholds for multiple product categories.

For phased-array CT systems, the requirements include at least 24 X-ray sources and 64 detectors, with reconstructed slice thickness of no more than 0.165 mm.

For gene sequencers, sequencing quality must reach Q30 ≥85%, single-run throughput must be at least 200 Gb, and PE150 sequencing time must be no more than 24 hours.

For three-dimensional cardiac electrophysiology mapping systems, the program requires combined magnetic- and electric-field positioning, with an average positioning error of no more than 1 mm, as well as support for high-density mapping.

These requirements indicate that applicants must meet not only the product category definition but also corresponding technical performance thresholds.

AI-Assisted Diagnosis Covers Cytogenetics and Obstetric Ultrasound

Two products are included in the AI-assisted diagnosis and treatment category.

One is a chromosome imaging data acquisition and karyotyping-assisted diagnosis system for cytogenetic diseases. Its requirements cover scanning resolution, image acquisition efficiency, chromosome recognition and automated analysis.

The other is an intelligent ultrasound diagnostic system for obstetrics and gynecology.

The system is required to support AI-based recognition of at least 30 prenatal screening views, as well as 3D/4D volumetric imaging and automated report generation.

Applications Require Medical-Engineering Consortia

Applicants are generally required to form a medical-engineering consortium.

The consortium should include a lead medical equipment manufacturer, a lead medical institution, and participating manufacturers or medical institutions. In principle, each consortium should include no more than 15 organizations.

Applicants are expected to have capabilities in medical-engineering collaboration, pilot-scale validation, clinical research, product iteration and broader clinical application.

Local industry and information technology authorities are required to submit recommended projects to MIIT by October 15, 2026.

MIIT, NHC and NMPA will subsequently organize expert or third-party reviews and publish the list of selected projects.

The implementation period for selected projects will generally not exceed three years.