{"id":4540,"date":"2024-01-17T13:30:13","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T12:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=4540"},"modified":"2024-01-17T13:30:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T12:30:13","slug":"ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive"},"content":{"rendered":"

By<\/em> Jingyi Xu, Zhongxuan Liu, Jiayou Shi, Yue Wang.<\/p>\n

The 2018 CRISPR-babies incident, involving the controversial editing of human genomes<\/a>, significantly impacted China’s approach to the ethics governance in medical research. The event underscored the need for a shift from a reactive, post hoc framework to a more proactive and anticipatory model. As a global leader in various fields of biomedicine research, China has recognized the importance of integrating ethical considerations at every level of the medical research process.<\/p>\n

The adoption of an “Ethics first” policy marks a substantial shift in the governance of emerging technologies. This policy emphasizes the need for forward-looking and preventive governance, moving away from a model of delayed intervention. It mandates that all parties involved in medical research\u2014from individual scientists to top leadership\u2014operate in alignment with ethical principles.<\/p>\n

However, despite the introduction of various policies and laws to enhance ethics governance in medical research, some current policies remain vague, with unclear implementation guidelines. To craft more practical regulations, Chinese bioethicists and ethical and legal scholars need to collaborate closely with the government. This collaboration should aim to overhaul the governance philosophy, refine both general and specific legislation, bolster ethics review and oversight mechanisms, provide legal recourse for unlawful practices, engage in broader dialogues, and advocate for enhanced global governance in medical research.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Paper:<\/strong> How should China set ethical guardrails for medical research?<\/a><\/p>\n

Authors and affiliations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jingyi Xu: Department of Medical Ethics and Law, School of Health Humanities, Peking University, Beijing, China<\/p>\n

Zhongxuan Liu: Law School, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China<\/p>\n

Jiayou Shi: Law School, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China<\/p>\n

Yue Wang: School of Health Humanities, Peking University, Beijing, China<\/p>\n

Competing interests<\/strong>: None declared<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jingyi Xu, Zhongxuan Liu, Jiayou Shi, Yue Wang. The 2018 CRISPR-babies incident, involving the controversial editing of human genomes, significantly impacted China’s approach to the ethics governance in medical research. The event underscored the need for a shift from a reactive, post hoc framework to a more proactive and anticipatory model. As a global […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":354,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8117,8046,397],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bioethics","category-gene-editing","category-research-ethics"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jingyi Xu, Zhongxuan Liu, Jiayou Shi, Yue Wang. The 2018 CRISPR-babies incident, involving the controversial editing of human genomes, significantly impacted China’s approach to the ethics governance in medical research. The event underscored the need for a shift from a reactive, post hoc framework to a more proactive and anticipatory model. As a global [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hazem Zohny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hazem Zohny\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hazem Zohny\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e73152f6aa4e164c7d625d77cf4fed35\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Bioethics\",\"Gene editing\",\"Research Ethics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2024\\\/01\\\/17\\\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"description\":\"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e73152f6aa4e164c7d625d77cf4fed35\",\"name\":\"Hazem Zohny\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hazem Zohny\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk\\\/people\\\/dr-hazem-zohny\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/author\\\/zohnyh\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","og_description":"By Jingyi Xu, Zhongxuan Liu, Jiayou Shi, Yue Wang. The 2018 CRISPR-babies incident, involving the controversial editing of human genomes, significantly impacted China’s approach to the ethics governance in medical research. The event underscored the need for a shift from a reactive, post hoc framework to a more proactive and anticipatory model. As a global [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/","og_site_name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","article_published_time":"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00","author":"Hazem Zohny","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hazem Zohny","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/"},"author":{"name":"Hazem Zohny","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/e73152f6aa4e164c7d625d77cf4fed35"},"headline":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive","datePublished":"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/"},"wordCount":294,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Bioethics","Gene editing","Research Ethics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/","name":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-17T12:30:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2024\/01\/17\/ethics-first-reform-for-medical-research-in-china-from-reactive-to-proactive\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cEthics first\u201d reform for medical research in China: from reactive to proactive"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","description":"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","width":200,"height":50,"caption":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/e73152f6aa4e164c7d625d77cf4fed35","name":"Hazem Zohny","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4d1bd322d5ff8e6f31a624003143903d0ba7346af8cdb1fd6b5e95924b92ece1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hazem Zohny"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk\/people\/dr-hazem-zohny"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/author\/zohnyh\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/354"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}