On August 17, 2014, China’s health officials announced that anyone who engages in the illegal trade and transplantation of organs will be severely punished. Wang Yu, Secretary of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, stated that a comprehensive organ transplant monitoring system will be established to severely punish, according to the law, the illegal sale of human organs, their private distribution, and the transplantation of organs from executed prisoners.
Huang Jiefu, head of the Chinese Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee and China’s Vice Minister of Health said, "For some hospitals, doctors, and individuals in the judicial system to conduct the private acquisition, distribution, and transplant of organs from executed prisoners will be considered an illegal sale of organs and will be prohibited according to the law."
According to official records, from March 2010 to August 2014, 5,787 organs were donated while over 10,000 organ transplants were performed each year.
[Editor’s note: Observers noted that the announcement may indicate that the implementation of existing regulations on organ transplants has not been effective in prohibiting organ harvesting. Effective September 2013, all organ donations and transplants will be required to go through the government’s centralized distribution system].
Sources: Beijing News reprinted by Xinhua, August 18, 2018
http://news.xinhuanet.com/local/2014-08/18/c_126882057.htm
http://china.caixin.com/2014-08-18/100718281.html
http://china.caixin.com/2014-08-18/100718281.html