The South China Morning Post (SCMP) said today that Neuracle’s NMPA approval marks the first for an implantable BCI. It aims to restore motor function in the hands of people with spinal cord injuries.

China’s BCI space continues to expand, with ultrasound-based BCI company Gestala announcing $21.7 million in funding yesterday. Other Chinese BCI makers have come to the fore recently, including a joint research venture advancing human studies and a startup called StairMed, which raised $48 million last year and, reportedly, another $72 million recently.

The country expects its rising technologies to push to challenge the other rising BCI technologies around the world. Those include Elon Musk’s Neuralink, Precision Neuroscience, Science Corp., Synchron, the Sam Altman and OpenAI-backed Merge Labs and more.