The China Marrow Donor Program, launched in 2001, had facilitated 22,782 hematopoietic stem cell donations from unrelated donors as of the end of April, including 425 for overseas patients, the Red Cross Society of China, which administers the program, said recently.

The number of potential stem cell donors on its registry has reached nearly 3.79 million, said Bian Xiao, vice-president of the RCSC, during a news conference last week.

In 2025, the number of registered donors rose by 170,000 from the previous year, and the number of donations reached 2,698, including 26 for overseas patients, he said.

Bian added that the domestic program was awarded Full Standards certification by the World Marrow Donor Association in March.

Saving lives through blood stem cell and bone marrow transplants for patients with blood-related diseases remains one of the key missions of the RCSC's humanitarian work.

Meanwhile, the RCSC provided aid to more than 16,000 patients with leukemia, congenital heart disease, cleft lip and palate, and rare diseases over the past year, Bian said.

Under an initiative funded by the central lottery public welfare fund to assist critically ill children, a total of 334 million yuan ($49 million) was allocated over the past year to support more than 7,000 children with leukemia and over 5,000 children with congenital heart disease.

The program also screened more than 150,000 children for congenital heart disease across 12 provincial-level regions.

Bei Xiaochao, president of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation, said the initiative's budget during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) is expected to increase.

For 2026, 400 million yuan has been approved, up nearly 20 percent from the average annual funding during the previous five years.

The funding for 2026 is expected to benefit about 14,000 children with leukemia and congenital heart disease.

"The initiative will also be expanded to cover rare diseases in children, with specific rules and standards currently being drafted," he added.

Regarding posthumous organ donation, the RCSC said 285,000 new donors registered last year, and a total of 6,931 organ donations yielding more than 23,000 transplanted organs were completed.

As of the end of April, the cumulative number of registered voluntary organ donors nationwide had surpassed 7.36 million. More than 66,000 organ donations have been completed, saving the lives of over 200,000 patients.

The number of volunteers registered as unpaid blood donors has also exceeded 200,000 nationwide.

Over the past year, the RCSC activated its emergency response mechanism 228 times, dispatched 2,580 rescue teams, and delivered relief supplies and funding worth more than 400 million yuan.

In 2025, the RCSC provided first-aid certification training to more than 6.21 million people.

By the end of 2025, local Red Cross branches had deployed more than 86,000 automated external defibrillators, or AEDs, and launched pilot programs exploring the use of mobile AEDs.