China denies allegations of harvesting organs from executed prisoners

China has said it will not tolerate any involuntary organ transplants and will fight corruption in its organ donation system.

According to Reuters, in 2015, China officially ended the systematic use of organs from executed prisoners in the country. This is a practice that has long been condemned by international human rights organizations and medical ethicists.

The People's Daily reported on October 17 that China has also denied allegations that organ harvesting from executed prisoners is still happening in the country.

CNN reported in June that China is still harvesting organs from prisoners, and that these people are even being slaughtered for their organs.

“All organs transplanted after 2015 are from donations and we have zero tolerance for violations of the law,” Huang Jiefu, director of the China Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, said at a conference in Beijing on October 17, according to the People’s Daily.

China denies harvesting organs from executed prisoners. Illustrative photo.

“Because China is a populous country with 1.3 billion people and uneven development between regions, frequent violations of the law are inevitable,” Mr. Huang continued.

He also admitted that corruption still exists in the system, leading to violations of the law.

Reuters cited figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) as saying that China performed about 11,000 organ transplants last year, although there are suspicions that the number of legal transplants is much higher. Human rights researchers and scholars have also accused Beijing of forcing prisoners of conscience to harvest their organs. However, China has repeatedly denied this.

Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding organ donation in China, global experts attending the conference praised Beijing for its efforts to improve the organ donation system.

China received 2,950 organ donations in the first nine months of 2016, up 50 percent from the same period last year, Xinhua news agency reported, citing figures from the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Since 2007, China has arrested 32 middlemen involved in organ trafficking, 158 criminal suspects, investigated 17 medical facilities, and closed 13 underground facilities.

To curb illegal organ trafficking, the Chinese government in 2007 banned transplants from living donors, except in cases of couples donating to each other, or blood donations between relatives.

According to PLO