Ceremony held to honor organ donors ahead of Tomb Sweeping Festival

Ahead of Tomb Sweeping Festival, the Red Cross Society of China has held a memorial ceremony in Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in honor of China's organ donors.

The memorial ceremony is an annual event remembering organ donors who have passed away and to raise fund for organ donation campaigns.

The event has also been held in Shandong, Jiangxi, Beijing, Shanghai and Hubei.

"While we are honoring those great organ donors, society should further raise awareness about organ donation and transplants so that more and more people can get involved.

"Each person's participation can possibly save a life, or bring blessings for a family that suffers from disease. Let us take immediate action," said Hang Tianqi, founder of the Tianqi Charity Foundation, an event sponsor.

The foundation was last January approved by the China Social Welfare Foundation, and it raises support from celebrities, artists and entrepreneurs, to direct attention to organ donation.

Liang Huiling, Party chief of the Red Cross Society of China, said that "organ donation is a noble activity that saves life and reflects social civilization and development.

"It is a complex social system project, which requires close cooperation from multiple departments, and requires the support and participation of all aspects of society."

"I sincerely hope that more people and organizations can join us, to popularize organ donation knowledge and raise people's awareness of the importance of organ donation, so that we can promote the healthy development of organ donation," she said.

Statistics from the China Organ Donation Administrative Center showed that by March there were more than 1.16 million organ donation volunteers registered in China, and there were over 22,000 successful cases, saving 65,000 lives.

China's annual organ donation rate per million population has increased to 4.53 from 0.03 in 2010, ranking second in the world.