In the past decade (2015-2025)

acupuncture clinical trials have achieved leapfrog development

from empirical medicine to evidence-based medicine. Many multicenter randomized controlled trials with rigorous designs and adequate sample sizes have been published in top-tier international journals including

The Journal of The American Medical Association

(

JAMA

)

British Medical Journal

(

BMJ

)

Annals of Internal Medicine

and

Journal of Clinical Oncology

(

JCO

). It has significantly enhanced the scientific credibility of acupuncture efficacy

leading the World Health Organization to include acupuncture in the Traditional Medicine Chapter of the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11); and has prompted the inclusion of acupuncture therapy in the medical insurance system in many countries. The research hotspots focus on chronic pain

functional gastrointestinal diseases

urinary and pelvic floor dysfunction

supportive therapy for tumors

perioperative management

and neuropsychiatric disorders. Many findings have been cited in authoritative guidelines from both domestic and international sources

significantly elevating the status of acupuncture in the global healthcare system. The research paradigm of acupuncture in China is shifting from "verifying efficacy" to "optimizing pathways"

with greater emphasis on objective outcome indicators

long-term efficacy observation

and the accumulation of real-world data. In the future

the emerging technologies will be deeply integrated

such as artificial intelligence with big data and virtual/augmented reality. It is expected to further facilitate

the accumulation of high-quality evidence

the construction of precise prediction model of efficacy

and the innovation of intelligent diagnosis and treatment paradigms. It will propel acupuncture from a "supplementary therapy" to an integrative medicine

and reshape disciplinary research paradigms and international development frameworks.