China's struggle for practical regulations in medical ethics

Abstract

The introduction of ethical regulations in medicine in China might seem at odds with the country's social and moral reality. Chinese bioethicists find themselves torn between the necessity to re-create a fully-fledged modern health-care system and aspirations to become global players in the biomedical sciences. The result is a top-down approach in medical ethics, created on behalf of the people. Despite its introduction, there are concerns about whether China is prepared to embrace the standards it claims to have adopted.