Organ Donations

China processed 2,950 organ donations in the first nine months of this year, up 50 percent year on year, according to figures unveiled by the health authority on October 16.

This exceeds the number undertaken in 2015, which stood at 2,766, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.

At present, the annual average number of organ donations in China ranks first in Asia and third around the world, and its annual number of organ transplants ranks second worldwide.

The government started to pilot changes to the organ donation system in 2010, and in 2011, the unauthorized trading of organs was made illegal through a criminal law amendment. Moreover, a new system for organ management and distribution was launched in 2013 to better regulate donations.

The increase in voluntary donations shows the public is more confident in the distribution of donated organs, said Ye Qifa, a member of China’s National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee.