Laws 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 municipalicities
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, quarantee 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 confisticated 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 constituing a crime shall be
investigated of the criminal liability according to law; where a crime
has not been constituted, administratvie sanctions shall be imposed
according to law.

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