Guest editorial: medical research ethics review in China – key developments and continuing challenges, with insights from our experience in Shenzhen

China’s biomedical research sector has been expanding at an extraordinary pace, driven in part by national investments in artificial intelligence (AI), genomics and synthetic biology.1 These advances hold considerable promise for societal benefit, but they also raise new risks and uncertainties for individuals and communities. Moreover, research itself—particularly when human participants are involved—can generate risks that demand careful ethical oversight. Ethics review, a central mechanism for protecting research participants, is therefore essential for identifying and reducing possible harm. The key challenge now facing China’s policymakers, researchers and ethicists is to develop an adaptive, modernised governance framework: one that safeguards participants while supporting responsible innovation and maintaining public trust.