Laws and Regulations

Chinese Law

Blood Donation Law of the People’s Republic of China

(Adopted at the 29th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress on December 29, 1997 and promulgated by Order No. 93 of the President of the People’s Republic of China)

Article 1
This Law is enacted with a view to ensuring the requirements and safety of blood for medical and clinical use, safeguarding the physical health of blood donors and blood users, promoting the humanitarian spirit and the building of socialist material civilization and spiritual civilization.

Article 2
The State practises the system of blood donation without compensation.

The State encourages voluntary blood donation by healthy citizens between ages 18 and 55.

Article 3
Local people’s governments at all levels provide leadership for the blood donation work within their respective administrative areas, work out uniform planning and shall be responsible for the organization and coordination among the departments concerned in their joint efforts for the blood donation work.

Article 4
Departments of public health under local people’s governments at or above the county level shall supervise over and administer the blood donation work.

Red Cross Societies at all levels shall participate in and promote the blood donation work in accordance with law.

Article 5
People’s governments at all levels shall take measures for the extensive publicity of the significance of blood donation and popularization of the scientific knowledge of blood donation and conduct education in the prevention and control or diseases spread via blood.

News media shall conduct nonprofit publicity about blood donation in society.

Article 6
State organs, armed forces, social groups, enterprises, institutions, neighborhood committees and villagers’ committees shall motivate and organize citizens of their respective units or neighborhoods to take part in blood donation.

Measures for the motivation and organization for blood donation by active-duty service personnel shall be worked out by the competent department of health of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.

A certificate of blood donation without compensation produced by the department of public health under the State Council shall be issued to blood donors, and the units concerned may give appropriate allowances.

Article 7
The State encourages state functionaries, active-duty service personnel and students in institutions of higher learning to take the lead in blood donation to set a role model in new social tendency.

Article 8
Blood stations are institutions that collect and provide blood for clinical use and are nonprofit organizations not for the purpose of making profits. Establishment of blood stations for the collection of blood from citizens shall be subject to the approval of the department of public health under the State Council or the departments of public health under the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Blood stations should provide safe, hygienic and convenient conditions for the blood donors. Qualifications for the establishment of and measures for the management of blood stations shall be worked out by the department of public health under the State Council.

Article 9
Blood stations must conduct necessary physical checkup of blood donors free of charge. Blood stations shall explain the situation to those citizens whose health conditions do not conform to the qualifications for blood donation and must not collect blood from them. Physical health qualifications of blood donors shall be laid down by the department of public health under the State Council.

The amount of blood collected by a blood station from a blood donor at a time shall generally be 200 milliliters and must not exceed 400 milliliters at most, and the duration between two collections shall not be less than six months.

Article 10
Blood stations must strictly abide by relevant operational procedures and rules in blood collection, blood collection must be conducted by medical staff with qualifications for blood collection and disposable blood collection apparatuses must be destroyed after use to ensure the physical health of blood donors.

Blood stations shall, in accordance with the standards formulated by the department of public health under the State Council, guarantee the quality of blood.

Blood stations must conduct inspection and testing over the blood collected; blood without undergoing inspection and testing or failing to pass inspection and testing must not be provided to medical institutions.

Article 11
Blood donated without compensation must be used for clinical purposes and must not be bought or sold. Blood stations and medical institutions must not sell the blood donated without compensation to stations of sole collection of plasma or production units of blood products.

Article 12
Packaging, storage and transportation of blood for clinical use must conform to the hygienic standards and requirements prescribed by the state.

Article 13
Medical institutions must conduct verification over blood for clinical use and must not use blood not in conformity with standards prescribed by the state for clinical purposes.

Article 14
A citizen shall only pay the expenses incurred in the collection, storage, separation and inspection of blood for the blood in clinical use; specific rates shall be set by the department of public health under the State Council in conjunction with the department of price under the State Council.

In the event of clinical necessity of blood use by a blood donor without compensation, he or she shall be exempted from the expenses prescribed in the preceding paragraph; when the spouse and lineal relative of a blood donor without compensation requires blood in clinical use, exemption from or reduction of the expenses prescribed in the preceding paragraph may be effected in accordance with the provisions of the people’s governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

Article 15
To ensure the requirements for clinical emergency blood use by citizens, the State encourages and guides patients to be operated upon at a selected date in self blood storage and motivates his or her family, relatives and friends and the unit wherein he or she is employed as well as society for blood donation in mutual assistance.

To guarantee emergency blood use, medical institutions may collect blood on a provisional basis; however, safety in blood collection and blood use shall be ensured in pursuance of the provisions of this Law.

Article 16
Medical institutions shall work out blood use plans for clinical use following the rational and scientific principle and shall not waste and abuse blood.

Medical institutions shall actively carry out blood transfusion in accordance with blood components in light of actual medical requirements. Specific control measures shall be worked out by the department of public health under the State Council.

The State encourages research and extension of new technologies in clinical blood use.

Article 17
People’s governments and Red Cross Societies at all levels shall give rewards to units and individuals that take an active part in blood donation and make outstanding achievements in blood donation work.

Article 18
Whoever commits any of the following acts shall be banned by the department of public health under the people’s government at or above the county level, the illegal gains shall be confiscated and may be concurrently imposed a fine of less than RMB 100,000 Yuan; where a crime has been constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law:

(1) illegal collection of blood;

(2) sale of blood donated without compensation by blood stations and medical institutions; and

(3) illegal organization of other persons in selling blood.

Article 19
A blood station that collects blood in contravention of the relevant operational procedures and rules shall be ordered by the department of public health under local people’s government at or above the county level to make a rectification; where harm has been caused to the health of blood donors, compensation shall be paid according to law, the person-in-charge held directly responsible and other personnel directly responsible shall be imposed administrative sanctions; where a crime has been constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.

Article 20
Anyone whose packaging, storage and transportation of blood for clinical use fail to meet hygienic standards and requirements prescribed by the state shall be ordered by the department of public health under the local people’s government at or above the county level to make a rectification, administered a warning and may concurrently be imposed a fine of less than RMB 10,000 Yuan.

Article 21
A blood station that supplies blood which fails to meet standards prescribed by the state to medical institutions in violation of the provisions of this Law shall be ordered by the department of public health under the people’s government at or above the county level to make a rectification; where the circumstances are serious resulting in the spread of diseases via blood or having serious danger of spreading, consolidation shall be carried out within a specified time period, the
person-in-charge held directly responsible and other personnel directly responsible shall be imposed administrative sanctions; where a crime has been constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.

Article 22
Any medical practitioner of a medical institution who, in violation of the provisions of this Law, uses the blood which fails to meet the standards prescribed by the state on patients shall be ordered by the department of public health under local people’s government at or above the county level to make a rectification; where harm has been caused to the health of patients, compensation shall be paid according to law, the person-in-charge held directly responsible and other personnel directly responsible shall be imposed administrative sanctions; where a crime has been constituted, criminal liability shall be investigated according to law.

Article 23
Any public health department and its staff that neglect their duties in the supervision and administration of blood donation and blood use causing serious consequences and constituting a crime shall be investigated of the criminal liability according to law; where a crime has not been constituted, administrative sanctions shall be imposed according to law.

Article 24
This Law shall enter into force as of October 1, 1998.