CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Zhou, Charlene Huang, Jenny Chen and Stephanie Wang, Global Law Office
subject to self-assessment and filing with the relevant health commission and must meet the specific rules applicable to the clinical use of the technology. Telemedicine In 2020, the National Health Commission (the “NHC”) issued a series of notices and opinions to encourage healthcare institutions to lever- age telemedicine and alleviate the pressure on offline delivery of healthcare services. In March 2023, the General Office of the Central Com- mittee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued opin- ions emphasising that expanding the coverage of telemedicine and establishing a telemedicine collaboration network was essential to improve the medical and healthcare service system. According to the Key Tasks in 2024 for Deepen- ing the Reform of Medical and Healthcare Sys- tems announced by the General Office of the State Council, telemedicine could contribute to the capacities of primary-level medical and healthcare services. Furthermore, in April 2025, the NHC, together with other authorities, issued the Guiding Opin- ions on Optimising the Layout and Construc- tion of Primary-level Healthcare Institutions (the “Guiding Opinions”). The Guiding Opinions out- line a three phase goal over the next ten years and aim to realise the basic popularisation of telemedicine and smart health services by 2030. Family doctor contracting services are currently mainly provided by community healthcare insti- tutions, demonstrating the advantages of tel- emedicine in primary healthcare. After signing a family doctor service agreement with residents, family doctors provide relevant services accord- ing to the requirements of the agreement, which
may include health management services, health consultation services, outpatient services, reha- bilitation, smart aided therapeutics and medica- tion guidance services, etc. Residents can execute service agreements, make appointments and accept health consul- tations and follow-up visits of chronic diseases through online channels such as websites and apps. AI and Machine Learning AI use and development in healthcare is pro- gressing rapidly in China and has been playing a robust and increasing role in the healthcare industry. Since 2016, with the strong support of national policies, China’s giant technology com- panies have entered this field and launched dif- ferent types of AI products. From a regulatory perspective, the NMPA issued the Guiding Principles for the Review of Regis- tration of AI Medical Devices in 2022, to regulate the registration of AI products as medical devic- es. As the most common form of AI, machine learning is widely applied in various aspects such as AI-assisted diagnostics and treatment, medical imaging, precision medicine and phar- maceutical research. These are followed by data security concerns with respect to the protection of large-scale personal sensitive data and cyber- attacks. The Provisions on the Management of Deep Synthesis in Internet Information Services and the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services, which respectively came into force on 10 January 2023 and 15 August 2023, set out boundaries for applying AI technol- ogy and offering related services, emphasising that innovative development is as important as
27
CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook