Overview
The National Medical Imaging AI Recognition Competition, jointly organized by China’s National Healthcare Security Administration and the People’s Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, will be held in Guangxi from August to October 2026. The contest comprises eight professional tracks covering diagnostic scenarios for lung cancer, breast cancer, glioma, kidney cancer and thyroid cancer, utilizing multimodal imaging such as CT, MRI, CTA, X‑ray and ultrasound.
ASEAN Outreach and Promotional Events
Following a successful seminar in Malaysia in May, the competition arrived in Vietnam on June 10, where it engaged health, social security and science‑technology authorities, as well as local medical institutions and enterprises. The Vietnam event introduced contest rules, the technical platform and registration procedures, and facilitated discussions on medical imaging AI trends and regional cooperation. Earlier, Malaysian universities, research institutions and medical enterprises pledged to form teams for the competition.
Registration and Competition Structure
Registration is open to teams worldwide, free of charge, through the official website (https://ybystds.ybj.gxzf.gov.cn) and closes at 24:00 on July 15, 2026. The competition consists of a preliminary online stage from August 1 to September 30, during which participants train and evaluate models on a unified cloud platform, followed by a final round in Nanning in mid‑October where shortlisted teams present and defend their solutions in person.
Data Provision and Privacy
For each track, organizers will supply medical imaging datasets that have been reviewed and annotated by medical expert teams. The datasets contain both positive and negative cases and will be used for model training, validation and evaluation. All data have undergone standardized anonymization and privacy‑protection procedures to ensure patient confidentiality.
Funding, Incentives and Support Mechanisms
Guangxi has committed 45 billion yuan over the next three years to foster AI‑driven productive forces, and will establish a 10‑billion‑yuan AI industry fund. Award‑winning projects will receive special funding and be placed in a priority review and approval channel for Class II medical devices. Industrialisation projects involving key core technologies may obtain up to 20 million yuan in additional support. Winning teams will also receive certificates, assistance with project showcases, cooperation matchmaking, commercialization and incubation services.
Regional Infrastructure and Prior Experience
Guangxi’s strategic location bordering ASEAN, together with platforms such as the China‑ASEAN Information Harbor and the Fangchenggang International Medical Opening‑up Pilot Zone, provides favourable conditions for cross‑border data flows, R&D, standard‑setting and commercialisation of medical imaging AI. The region hosts two national‑level AI cooperation centres and has experience organising large‑scale competitions, having previously hosted the “AI Super League,” which attracted more than 10,000 teams.
Expected Outcomes
The organizers anticipate that the contest will promote technical exchanges, advance innovation in medical imaging AI, deepen regional medical cooperation and enable AI technologies to benefit a broader range of medical institutions and patients across ASEAN and China.