The city of Guangzhou, Guangdong province came up with a new policy recently concerning people who volunteer to give their body parts to hospitals after they die, by making it possible to donate without the consent of family members.

Previously, the only way to donate body parts was with the consent of immediate family members, explained Ouyang Binghui, vice-president of the Guangzhou Red Cross, who noted that “it’s entirely up to the individual’s will”.

The policy says that the donation can be carried out by relatives of the donor, intimate friends, colleagues, the person’s company, or a nursing home or community committee.

After carrying out a decade of publicity to promote this previously uncommon practice in China, the municipal Red Cross had received 1,630 offers by March 2015, with 394 of them donating their body.