People in Shanghai are being encouraged to give blood to boost local reserves, an official with the city's blood administration office said on Wednesday.

Last year, 82,600 liters of blood were collected, of which 85 percent came from volunteers, Zhang Xiongmin said.

This year we want to boost that figure to 90 percent, he said.

With its top quality medical facilities, Shanghai attracts a lot of people from outside the city, but this leads to frequent blood shortages, Wu Jian, another official from the center, said.

In the past two years, the annual demand has exceeded 80,000 liters, which puts great pressure on reserves, he said.

"That means we need more people to come forward and give blood," he said.

To encourage donors, the Shanghai Blood Center is running a promotional campaign to attract both locals and expats living in the city.

Expats should come forward because they tend to have Rh-negative blood, which is always in demand, a worker at center surnamed Lu told China Daily.

"Only 0.3 to 0.4 percent of Chinese are Rh-negative, while the figure is about 10-15 percent for Westerners," she said.

"If more expats give blood we can boost our reserves of the rare blood type," she said.

About 600 foreigners gave blood last year and in 2007, but authorities want to increase the number by 5 percent this year.

In the past, some foreigners were worried about sanitation standards at Shanghai hospitals, but they have no cause for concern as the city now has some of the best medics and hospitals in the world, Lu said.

The center has even recruited a number of foreign volunteers to help encourage expats to donate blood at mobile collection points across the city, she said.

After giving blood at a mobile unit stationed outside the offices of Citibank yesterday, Briton Tim Fleming, who works for the firm, said: "I've given blood several times in London, and this is now my second time in China.

"It's a nice feeling knowing you're giving something that could save someone's life."

Zhao Yong, another Citibank employee, said he was giving blood for the fourth time yesterday.

"It's very meaningful, because it helps people in need," he said.

(China Daily January 22, 2009)