South China's Guangdong Province is establishing a pilot system to regulate human organ donation, distribution and management, provincial authorities said Wednesday.

The pilot project, co-sponsored by the China Red Cross Society and the Ministry of Health, officially started on Tuesday.

The project is in its preparatory stage, and the committee in charge of human organ donation will be established this year, said Xu Huozhou, deputy head of the Guangdong Red Cross.

All information concerning provincial human organ donation and demand will be stored in the committee's database for management and distribution of donated organs, Xu added.

Guangdong started an organ donation program in 2003. But only 50 organ donations and 360 cornea tissue donations had been made as of December 2009, said Liao Xinbo, deputy head of Guangdong's health department.

China has the world's second largest demand for organ transplants. About 1.5 million patients need transplants every year while only 10,000 receive one.

The country is in need of a comprehensive system of human organ donation, distribution and management, Liao said.

The non-government Red Cross society will serve as an independent third party in supervising and facilitating organ donation, distribution and transplant procedures, Xu said.

Organ donations should be made under the principal of respecting the donor's wishes, and be free of financial incentives, he added.

Donor applications may be made by the living having full capacity to make decisions, Xu said, adding that decisions may also be made by deceased persons' relatives.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2010)