health

China Clears First Brain-Computer Implant for Commercial Use

Timely reports on issues and events from across China. Drawing on a vast range of sources, these succinct articles provide insights into the significance of each issue in a wider context.

NEWS

Clinical trials show the implant can restore limited hand movement in spinal cord injury patients.

Chen Yiru

Shanghai Announces 2026 Tobacco Control Plan

The city is banning smoking at bus stops, ramping up oversight of areas where smoking is forbidden, and mandating smoking questionnaires during patient intake.

Fan Yiying

Cleft Lip: The Long Road to Repairing a Smile

Translations, cross-publications, and collaborative projects from Sixth Tone’s external partners. 

SIXTH TONE ×

As a Beijing charity hospital faces closure, cleft lip and palate patients and their relatives are sharing their stories to bring hope to more families.

The Paper

New Chinese Trial Offers Roadmap to Cut Antibiotic Overuse

A large rural trial finds digital prompts and peer reviews sharply reduce unnecessary prescriptions.

As Services Expand, More Foreigners Seek Treatment in China

Lower costs, shorter waits, and expanding services are drawing more overseas patients to Chinese hospitals.

Li Xin

Chinese Scientists Save Patient Using Pig Liver Outside the Body

The new procedure could buy critically ill patients time to recover or wait for a human transplant.

To Reach Remote Patients, China Puts a Hospital on a Plane 

A Shanghai hospital has created a clinic aboard an aircraft equipped with diagnostic and surgical facilities. Doctors hope it can help improve healthcare access.

Young Chinese Are Diagnosing Themselves With ADHD — and Finding Community Online

Netizens are feeling increasingly seen in ADHD’s diagnostic criteria, commiserating online over lives defined by procrastination and distraction, but experts urge caution over the dangers of self-diagnosis.

Can Ultrasound Alone Treat Alzheimer’s? One Chinese Neurologist Thinks It Might

Inspired by changes observed during his mother’s treatment, a neurologist is testing ultrasound as a standalone therapy for Alzheimer’s, a departure from mainstream research and one still shrouded in questions.

Jiang Xinyi

Among China’s Oldest, Vegans Less Likely to Reach 100: New Study 

Vegetarianism is widely seen as a way to prevent cardiovascular disease and obesity. A new study reveals that for older people, the relationship between diet and health is more complex.

Overdoing It: The Cheap Pain Pills Hooking Young Chinese

After a clampdown on a popular psychoactive drug, doctors say many young people have switched to abusing a cheaper, addictive alternative.

The  Beijing News

China Begins Clinical Trials of Its First Acne Vaccine

The recombinant, protein-based vaccine is one of only a handful of acne vaccines worldwide promising alternative treatment.

Brain Implant Trial in China Leaves Patients with Gambling, Sexual Urges

Participants in a deep brain stimulation trial for drug addiction say the implants triggered compulsive behavior that upended their lives.

How a Bullied Teenager Built China’s Unlikeliest Music Festival

Articles that cut to the core of contemporary China. In-depth, informed, and carefully crafted, every piece is carried by the voices of the story’s participants.

FEATURES

You and Me, a free experimental music festival in Beijing, grew from one teenager’s search for refuge. Now it faces demolition, debt, and an uncertain future.

Wang Juyi

Hoping to Curb Obesity, Chinese City Implements Health Ordinance

With nearly half of Chinese adults classified as overweight or obese, the policy represents the first time a city has enacted reforms directed at weight loss.

New Chinese Study Links City Childhood to Early Puberty in Girls 

Based on brain scans and survey data from nearly 3,000 young women, researchers used age at first menstruation and personality tests to examine how urban childhood environments shape development.

China Probe Faults Hospital in Baby’s Death After Heart Surgery

An infant died following a routine cardiac surgery in November. Now, the results of an investigation into her death reveal medical malpractice.

He Qitong

China’s Mercury Thermometer Ban Sparks Debate, and a Buying Rush

As authorities move to end production by 2026, households are split between safety concerns and trust in familiar devices.

China Taps Private Insurance for Costly New Drugs

China is asking private insurers to cover certain pricey innovative drugs, pushing toward a multi-tier health-care system that goes beyond state funding.

China Performs First Brain Implant Procedure Under State Pricing

A patient has received a brain implant to help with hand function, the first BCI procedure billed through China’s new regulated pricing system.