Regulators, developers and clinicians in Shenzhen voice concerns over medical AI governance

Medical artificial intelligence is advancing quickly in Shenzhen, but the people building, regulating and using it say the ethical rules governing the technology have not kept pace. A qualitative study published in BMC Medical Ethics examined how stakeholders in the southern Chinese city understand and respond to the ethical challenges posed by medical AI, drawing on focus group interviews with 45 participants drawn from government agencies, industry, research institutions and medical institutions.

The researchers, led by Ping Ji and colleagues, used stratified purposive and convenience sampling to recruit representatives from across Shenzhen’s innovation ecosystem: five participants from government agencies, 13 from industry, 13 from research institutions and 14 from medical institutions. Data were collected through semi-structured focus group interviews conducted by experienced interviewers, then analysed thematically, with coding and extraction carried out using NVivo 11 software.

The study found that the Chinese government and local authorities are promoting the AI industry with ethical governance built into their plans. Yet despite this policy-level attention, stakeholders on the ground reported persistent concerns in four main areas: the safety and reliability of AI in healthcare, regulatory clarity in practice, the allocation of responsibility when things go wrong, and the difficulty of multidisciplinary cooperation across sectors.

According to the study’s results, addressing these concerns will require more explicit ethical guidance, better regulatory coordination, stronger cross-sector collaboration and more institutional support for ethical governance of medical AI. The authors conclude that all stakeholders share responsibility for addressing ethical issues in both the development and the use of medical AI, rather than treating governance as the task of regulators alone.

The researchers argue that Shenzhen’s position as a leader in China’s healthcare AI sector means the city’s experience can help guide policy and practice both locally and in other fast-growing regions. As a qualitative interview study of a single city’s ecosystem, the findings reflect the perspectives of the stakeholders sampled rather than measurable outcomes of any governance intervention, but they offer a detailed picture of where developers, clinicians, ethicists and regulators see the gaps. The article was published open access on 20 October 2026 as peer-reviewed, accepted research.

Subject of Research: Stakeholder perspectives on the ethical governance of medical AI in Shenzhen, China

Article Title: Ethical governance of medical AI: a qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives in Shenzhen’s innovation ecosystem

Article References: Ji, P., Voo, T. C., Zhang, H., Zhu, D., Xiao, P., Cong, Y., & Liang, Z. (2026). Ethical governance of medical AI: a qualitative study of stakeholder perspectives in Shenzhen’s innovation ecosystem. BMC Medical Ethics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12910-026-01583-4

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12910-026-01583-4

Keywords: medical AI, ethical governance, Shenzhen, qualitative study, focus groups, healthcare regulation, stakeholders, BMC Medical Ethics, China, AI policy, Ethical, governance