Regulations on Human Organ Transplantation

Updated: 2014-06-05

Chapter II Donation of Human Organs

Article 7 Donation of human organs shall follow the principles of voluntariness and gratuitousness.

A citizen has the right to donate or not to donate his organ. No organization or individual may force, deceive or entice a person into donating his organ.

Article 8 A citizen who donates his organ shall have full capacity for civil conduct. For donation of his organ, a citizen shall give written consent to the donation and he shall have the right to withdraw such expressed consent.

Where a citizen, during his lifetime, expresses an objection to the donation of his organ, no organization or individual may donate or remove his organ. Where a citizen, during his lifetime, does not express an objection to the donation of his organ, his spouse, children of full age and parents may, after his death, jointly give consent to the donation of his organ in written form.

Article 9 No organization or individual may remove a living organ for transplantation from a citizen who has not reached the age of 18.

Article 10 The recipient of a living organ shall only include the donor’s spouse, lineal relatives, collateral relatives by blood up to the third degree of kinship, and a person for whom there is evidence to prove that he has developed a kinship with the donor due to his supporting or other reasons.

Chapter III Human Organ Transplantation

Article 11 A medical institution that is to engage in human organ transplantation shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations on Administration of Medical Institutions, apply for registration of a clinical department related to human organ transplantation with the competent health department of the people’s government of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where it is located.

A medical institution that is to engage in human organ transplantation shall meet the following conditions:

(1) having licensed doctors and other medical personnel who are suitable for engaging in human organ transplantation;

(2) having equipment and facilities needed for human organ transplantation;

(3) having a committee on clinical application and ethics of human organ transplantation, which shall be composed of experts in medicine, law, ethics and other fields, among whom the number of medical experts engaged in human organ transplantation shall account for not more than one quarter of the committee members; and

(4) having sound administration systems for human organ transplantation, such as a system of quality surveillance and control.

Article 12 When registering a clinical department related to human organ transplantation, the competent health department of the people’s government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall, apart from taking the conditions prescribed in Article 11 of these Regulations as basis, take into consideration the medical demand for human organ transplantation and the lawful sources of human organs within its administrative area.