Human organ trafficking is a thriving business in China, although it was declared illegal in 2007,

due to the high demand due to the lack of donors. Middlemen and sellers openly search for and
offer kidneys on the Internet for prices between 35,000 and 50,000 yuan (3,750 and 5,360 euros).
According to the website of the Tianjin No. 1 Hospital Center, the price of a liver transplant
operation amounts to about 200,000 yuan (21,500 euros) "from the patient's admission until he or
she is discharged." For foreigners, prices are more expensive, as has been the case for the Spanish
Óscar Garay. and because of this, Beijing banned transplants to foreigners in 2007, known as
transplant tourism, due to the shortage of organs, the controversy over the origin of these, many
of which come from executed people, and the health problems registered by some recipients.

Most of the organs come from executed prisoners and are suspected of not having given their
consent.

A year ago it was learned that 17 Japanese had each paid 64,000 euros for liver or kidney
transplants in China

On websites specialized in organ trading, dozens of intermediaries operate in cities across the
country, such as Zhengzhou (capital of Henan province), Chengdu (capital of Sichuan), Guangzhou
(Guangdong) and even Beijing. There are also advertisements from people desperate for money,
who offer a kidney [a human being can live with only one of the two he has] to the highest bidder.
Their mobile phones and other methods of contact are openly on display.

One of the traffickers, who signs with the name "share your concerns with me, I will solve your
difficulties", who says he is in Zhengzhou although he also operates in southern China, is looking
for suppliers; but also clients, since, according to his Internet advertisement, he has "a large
amount of kidney resources." "Our agency is of the utmost credibility, we offer the best
accommodation, the fastest operation and the best price () This message is valid for eternity."

After this newspaper contacted him, posing as a person offering his kidney, the intermediary, who
looks for men between 19 and 28 years old although he also accepts women over 1.70 meters tall,
takes the plunge.
Offeror. How much do you pay?

Trafficker. 50,000 yuan.

Or alone? I don't live in Henan, what about travel and accommodation expenses?

Trafficker: You have to come to Zhengzhou and do a medical checkup, to see that you are a
compatible donor, and then the operation.

Offeror: When will you pay me?

Trafficker:efore the operation.

Offeror: How do I go to Zhengzhou?

Trafficking: By train, and when you arrive you call me from the station. Let me see you first.

Offeror: I don't have a camera on my computer.

Trafficker: Your blood group has to be A, B or O, we don't want AB. If you pass the medical
examination, you will undergo the operation [to remove the kidney]. If not, we will pay you for the
return ticket. We will transfer the total amount of money to your bank account one hour before
the intervention.

Offeror:But isn't this illegal? What happens if the police catch me?

Trafficker: We will go to the notary first [to sign the supposed voluntary donation papers]. Without
this, the hospital wouldn't dare to operate on you. [What you want to do] is not against the law.
The State allows it.

Offeror:Who is responsible for my hospital stay?

Trafficker: You will be in the hospital for a week, the doctors will prescribe you antibiotics. We will
ask the recipient's family for food expenses. Normally it will give you between 3,000 and 10,000
yuan (320 and 1,070 euros), although some rich patients give more. The entire process, from the
medical examination to your discharge, will take a month and a half.

Offeror: But 50,000 yuan for a kidney is not much. You must have many sellers, and that is why
you pay little.

Trafficker:Yes, I have about 100 a month; 50,000 yuan is the standard price throughout the
country. Other intermediaries are more suspicious. Like a certain Zhang, who says that he is a
kidney doctor at a hospital, which is why he cannot give more details, and asks the future seller for
a deposit of 3,000 yuan in advance, which may be an indication of a possible scam. After initially
answering the call, Zhang later refuses to pick up the phone.

Most agents do not accept women because, they say, clients prefer men's kidneys. "I urgently need money. I
am selling a kidney that has been with me for more than 20 years. You can call me for more details," reads
one bidder's ad. Another, surnamed Wang [one of the most common names in China], "male, 24 years old,
single and in perfect health; no agencies, please," includes a list with the conditions of the contract to be
signed, including passage through the notary

Traffickers often have contacts with doctors in hospitals and officials who are corrupt or look the other way,
and who refrain from trying to find out if the donor is a family member or someone close to the recipient.

In the case of the transfer of organs after death, the controversy that arose a few years ago was motivated
because the majority come from executed prisoners, and it was suspected that many of them had not given
their consent, nor had their families. Although prior written agreement has been required since 1984, there
are hospitals, prisons and justice departments that flout the law.

As a result of the controversy, the Government tightened its supervision of donations from those executed.
Some doctors and academics believe it is too difficult to verify whether prisoners give consent voluntarily,
and say the Government should campaign to encourage donations among the general population.

Furthermore, following legal reforms in 2005, whereby all death sentences must be overseen by the Supreme
Court, the number of death sentences is believed to have decreased significantly in China, resulting in fewer
potential donors. This country executed at least 1,718 people in 2008, according to Amnesty International.
The real figure is unknown, since the Government considers it a state secret. The American human rights
organization Dui Hua Foundation estimates that the maximum sentence was applied to 6,000 people in 2008.

The situation of transplants in China must be placed in its context. In this country, with more than 1.3 billion
inhabitants, there is a chronic lack of organs and healthcare is paid for, so many people are not surprised that
organs have to be purchased. Experts estimate that four out of five patients die in China while waiting for a
suitable donor.

In February 2009 it emerged that 17 Japanese tourists had each paid around 600,000 yuan (64,300 euros) for
liver or kidney transplants at a hospital in Guangzhou. [The ethical code of the Japan Transplant Society
prohibits the use of organs from executed prisoners, both inside and outside the country.] Following the news,
Beijing launched an investigation and detected the existence of hospitals that were failing to comply with
national regulations. Zhao Lizhen, who works at the Red Cross in the southern city of Shenzhen and helped
establish the country's first organ donation office, believes that "some transplants to foreigners still occur."

The buying and selling of organs has also been denounced by the official press, which, at the end of last year,
collected testimonies from intermediaries, who guaranteed that they could facilitate transplants to foreigners,
and from doctors who testified that they continued to be carried out despite their illegality. The objective of
hospitals: to increase their profits, in a country where medicine is a business. For foreigners, prices are higher.

Pressured between the enormous demand and the lack of donors, last year the Ministry of Health established a
national organ transfer system, which includes living and deceased donors, and is preparing a waiting list of
patients in need of transplants.

Zhao is not optimistic about the donations from the Chinese. "People consider it a lack of respect for the
ancestors that the body is not complete after death. The Government should do more to raise awareness. The
same thing happened with blood donation." To encourage organ donation, Zhao says they pay for the
deceased donor's grave and help his family if he has financial difficulties. Other citizens declare that they do
not donate because they do not trust what happens to their organs.

And traffickers take advantage of the situation. Like the one who assured that his "message is valid for
eternity", who fully attacks the feelings of those seeking a transplant in his advertisement: "Life is short and
hard (...) We can find the right kidney supplier in the shortest possible time.
Reinoso, J., Reinoso, J., & Reinoso, J. (2010, 14 marzo). Tráfico de órganos sin tapujos en
China. El País. https://elpais.com/diario/2010/03/14/domingo/1268542354_850215.html