Artificial Intelligence and its developments have had a revolutionary impact on society, and healthcare is not an exception. China has made massive strides in AI integrated healthcare, and continues to do so as AI tools are deployed in hospitals across the country.
China's ambitions for artificial intelligence are staggering. The country is projected to invest more than US$1.4 trillion into AI development by 2030, a figure that eclipses the GDP of many nations. But what's perhaps more astonishing is where some of that investment is already landing: hospitals powered not by humans, but by AI doctors.
In 2024, Tsinghua University made headlines with the launch of the world's first AI hospital, Agent Hospital—a concept that blends virtual AI agents, clinical care, and real-world pilot deployment into one tightly integrated system. Now that vision is being refined, tested, and expanded across China in what might be one of the most ambitious attempts to reimagine modern healthcare.
What is Agent Hospital, and why does it matter?
Tsinghua's Agent Hospital was made up of 14 AI doctors upon launch. At its core, is MedAgent-Zero, the self-evolving AI framework developed by the University's AIR (Institute for AI Industry Research). Moreover, in November of 2024, the "Zijing AI Doctor" was launched. Developed by a Tsinghua University spin-out start-up, Zijing Zhikang, to serve as the core component in AI Agent's ecosystem.1 The system features 42 AI doctors across 21 clinical specialties, covering over 300 diseases. Furthermore, each specialty has trained its virtual agents on over ten common conditions. And finally, by creating a pool of half a million synthetic patient cases to test and evolve diagnostic accuracy. These AI doctors can treat 10,000 patients with 93% accuracy in a matter of days, a feat that would take real doctors years to complete.
Furthermore, these doctors aren't chatbots; they're AI systems capable of autonomously working with AI generated patients in a fully-fledged closed-loop ecosystem.
The system underwent internal testing in November of 2024, in which the closed-loop environment was used to rapidly and extensively evolve the AI doctor agents. Moreover, internal testing enabled vast simulation, and refinement using virtual patient data and clinical workflows. Consequently, the system was made ready to undergo public pilot testing, which has since greatly superseded internal testing.
Transition from Internal Simulation to Public Deployment
The inauguration ceremony for Tsinghua Agent Hospital held last April marked this transition into public deployment.2 During the event, the system's integration with Chang Gung Hospital was announced, emphasizing the institute's commitment and ambition to revolutionize healthcare.
From ophthalmology and respiratory medicine to radiological diagnostics, AI doctors take on tasks traditionally handled by their human counterparts—streamlining workflows, offering real-time recommendations, and lowering the barrier to care.
Garnering international attention, the event highlighted China's AI Hospital model to address physician shortages, and improve healthcare access, especially in underserved regions.
Beyond clinical deployment and streamlining medical services, the system will serve as educational groundwork at Tsinghua. As a result, educational integration will catalyze the rise of a new generation of "AI-collaborative physicians."
Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital – Physical hospital, digital core
May 2025 marked a symbolic and strategic milestone: the Phase II expansion of Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital, adding 500 new beds, raising its capacity to 1,500 inpatients and up to 10,000 outpatients daily.3 However, while the physical infrastructure grew, the real story was in the digital layer being embedded alongside it.
AI now supports nearly every step of the patient journey—from digital admissions and predictive alerts to infusion management, diagnostics, and mobile nursing stations. The hospital even partnered with the Tsinghua Academy of Arts and Design to incorporate "healing architecture," merging technology with cultural aesthetics for a more human-centered experience.
This is not a case of slapping AI on top of a legacy system. This is a full rethinking of what a hospital can be when clinical need, AI capability, and design philosophy converge.
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