Over the past two decades, the International Cochrane Collaboration has completely transformed the mechanism of health decision-making. Cochrane aims to collect, summarize and disseminate the best current research evidence via The Cochrane Library in order to help stakeholders making informed health care decisions. Cochrane began with just a few dozen volunteers and has, over the years, transformed into a truly global and inclusive network, with 37 000 contributors from over 130 countries. Cochrane evidence has long been recognized as high quality and trustworthy international gold standard in health care. In recent years, Cochrane has initiated a number of innovative projects to attract more researchers from different socio-cultural and educational backgrounds. This commentary introduces these new platforms and illustrates the opportunities offered to Chinese researchers by the modern-era Cochrane.