The purchase and sale of human organs is now banned in China after a new regulation came into effect on Saturday.

Strict rules have also been imposed on human organ transplants in response to fierce overseas criticism of China's transplant industry.

Hospitals will be banned from taking organs without written consent from the donor, and donors are entitled to withdraw their decision at the last minute, according to the regulation, which was drawn up and made public in March 2006.

Only Class Three A hospitals -- China's top ranking comprehensive hospitals -- can apply for transplant licenses. And the hospitals are required to have doctors with clinical organ transplant qualifications.

Qualified doctors, however, are banned from operating in unlicensed clinics, it added.

Clinics and hospitals are requested to submit operation documents to the institute's transplant ethnic committee for approval. Doctors should tell the committee the source of the harvested organ and whether it is a suitable match for the recipient.

China is the world's second largest performer of organ transplants, but the overall recovery rates lag behind international levels, Vice-Minister of Health Huang Jiefu told a Beijing conference in May.

It is estimated that two million Chinese people need transplants each year, but only 20,000 operations are conducted because of a shortage of organs. This has resulted in an illegal organ trade in some regions.

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