New Delhi, July 31 (IANS) China is facing a blood donation crisis due to a collapse in public trust in the system along with demographic decline, a new report has said.
The report from Myanmar-based publication Mizzima said blood banks in China are running low, as the national donation rate stood at 10.9 donors per 1,000 people by mid-2026 — barely above the World Health Organization’s recommended minimum of 10 per 1,000.
The donation rate is well below the 31.5 per 1,000 averages in high income countries. Clinical demand for blood is rising at nearly 9 per cent annually, while voluntary donations have edged up by just 1.69 per cent over the same period, the report said.
"The imbalance is stark: hospitals require thousands of units daily, but donation centres remain empty, forcing postponements of non‑urgent surgeries and leaving patients vulnerable," the media house said.
Public confidence was eroded as hospitals charge exorbitant fees for transfusions of blood procured free of cost. A typical 200 ml transfusion costs around Yuan 1,000, while platelet transfusions are even more expensive.
"The CCP’s promises of reciprocity have also collapsed under bureaucratic reinterpretation. Official propaganda long claimed that donors and their families would enjoy lifetime priority access to transfusions," the report said.
Hospitals, however, denied blood to donors on the grounds that their donation certificates had “expired.”
China’s ability to locate compatible organs for transplantation within days or even hours has raised doubts among the public that blood donation feeds into a system of organ procurement.
The dip in donation enthusiasm is most acute among young donors with university student donations dropping 55 per cent from 2.36 million in 2023 to 1.06 million in 2025. Meanwhile, China’s ageing population and record-low birth rate are reducing the pool of eligible donors.
The report alleged that CCP’s desperation to address the crisis is evident by legislative attempts to raise the maximum donation age from 55 to 65 and cut the interval between donations from six months. These measures could temporarily boost supply but cannot reverse the structural decline in donor availability.
—IANS
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