In 1993, the Cochrane Collaboration Network was established as a global non-profit organization to promote evidence-based health decision-making through the production of high-quality, demand-related and accessible systematic evaluations. In 1996, Li Youping traveled to Australia to attend the 4th Cochrane Annual Conference. He proposed to Chris Silagy, then chairman of the Cochrane Collaboration Network and director of the Cochrane Center in Australia, the idea of building the Cochrane Center in China and received support. In 1999, the Cochrane Collaboration Network officially approved the China Cochrane Center to be officially registered as the Thirteenth National Center of the Cochrane Collaboration Network. It became the third developing country center after Brazil and South Africa. Li Youping served as director of the Cochrane Collaboration Center. He devoted himself to producing high-quality systematic evaluation research evidence and promoting health technology assessment and evidence-based decision-making.

         In 2015, Cochrane Collaboration officially renamed Cochrane and Chinese Cochrane Center renamed Cochrane China. The current director of the center is Professor Sun Xin. The aim of the center is to synthesize, evaluate and transform evidence and provide high-quality evidence for clinical and government decision-making. It mainly involves related research on drugs, instruments and surgical intervention. In 2019, Cochrane China partnered with MAGIC China to produce quick recommendations on related issues, post-marketing drug and medical device supervision and guidelines.