Do not sell your own organs, and do not help others find donors: a kidney nets a little over 20000 yuan (2万多); the same kidney is resold for 200000 yuan (20万); the money is confiscated and a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount is added

Living organs may only be donated to a spouse, direct blood relative, or collateral blood relative within three generations; buying and selling are both unlawful. In a Beijing case, the seller got only a little over 20000 yuan (2万多); the same kidney sold to the patient for 180000 to 220000 yuan (18万 to 22万). Money obtained is confiscated, then a fine of 10 to 20 times the transaction amount is added. The bodily cost after a kidney is removed is in Section 1, item 35 (the remaining kidney does the work of two).

Cost

No money and no time — just do not do it.

Benefit

Article 5 of the Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation: “No organization or individual may buy or sell human organs in any form, or engage in activities related to buying or selling human organs.” Article 10: “No organization or individual may obtain living organs from a citizen under 18 years of age for transplant.” Article 11: “Recipients of living organs are limited to the living donor’s spouse, direct blood relatives, or collateral blood relatives within three generations.” Article 37 sets how buying and selling human organs are punished. Buying or selling human organs or engaging in related activities is handled by the health department of the local people’s government at county level or above. First confiscate the illegal gains — take all money from the deal. Then fine not less than 10 times and not more than 20 times the transaction amount. Medical staff who take part have their practice certificates revoked and are barred for life from health services. If a crime is constituted, criminal liability is pursued according to law (nationwide; in force from 1 May 2024; the former Regulations on Human Organ Transplantation are repealed at the same time). Criminal Law Article 234-1: “Whoever organizes another person to sell a human organ shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious, to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years and shall also be fined or have property confiscated.” Three further situations are convicted and punished under Articles 234 and 232. One is removing someone’s organ without their consent. Two is removing an organ from a person under eighteen. Three is forcing or deceiving someone into donating an organ. These are handled as intentional injury or intentional homicide. Case 1: The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court finally judged Zheng and 14 others on 20 August 2014; the case involved 51 kidneys and over 10340000 yuan (1034万余) in amounts. Kidney sellers (donors) “received only remuneration ranging from 20000 to 25000 yuan (2万 to 2.5万).” The patient side (recipients) paid “formerly 180000 or 190000 yuan (18万 or 19万) per kidney, later 210000 or 220000 yuan (21万 or 22万).” The harvest site was a four-story building rented for 7500 yuan a month; the gang’s head nurse said the place was “filthy and chaotic, without even rescue equipment.” Organizer Zheng was sentenced to 12 years for organizing the sale of human organs; the other 14 got from 3 years 6 months to 9 years. Case 2: The “teen sold a kidney for an Apple phone” case published by the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Seventeen-year-old Wang had his right kidney removed in Chenzhou on the night of 28 April 2011. The surgery site was a contracted department inside a hospital without transplant qualifications. On discharge on 2 May he received 22000 yuan (2.2万); the recipient side paid intermediaries 150000 yuan (15万) RMB and 10000 US dollars; the principal made over 56000 yuan (5.6万余). After surgery Wang had incomplete kidney function; “the injury constituted serious injury and grade-three disability”

Notes

The beneficiary is you. On the surface the deal is “a one-time twenty thousand”; in fact it trades an organ for a phone. The appraisal in the teen kidney case was serious injury and grade-three disability — not something a few months of rest fixes. In that case prosecutors found five defendants violated Criminal Law Article 234 paragraph 2 and charged intentional injury. One reason was that medical staff did not verify whether the “donor” was a minor before cutting out the right kidney. If the same thing happens today, recruiters are handled for organizing the sale of human organs. Removing an organ from a person under eighteen is still convicted and punished as intentional injury under Article 234. Black intermediaries operate in rentals or borrowed sites; the Beijing harvest point had no rescue equipment. Lawful living donation is done at hospitals with transplant qualifications, after review by the hospital ethics committee. Before surgery doctors must explain the risks and sign informed consent; after surgery the hospital must follow up (Regulations Articles 23, 28, and 29). Black intermediaries skip all of that; if complications arise it is hard to find anyone accountable — that sentence is the author’s inference from the Regulations. If you truly want to donate for a relative, take the Article 11 path; donation under Article 8 of the Regulations is voluntary and unpaid. Posthumous organ donation is unpaid and outside this item. The bodily cost after losing a kidney is in Section 1, item 35 (the remaining kidney does the work of two). When money is so short that selling an organ seems thinkable, first see Section 7’s safety nets (unemployment insurance, temporary assistance, dibao). Pitfalls of online loans and “packaging materials” loans are in item 6 of this section.

Sources · 4

1. 国务院 (2023). 人体器官捐献和移植条例（国务院令第 767 号，第五、八、十、十一、二十三、二十八、二十九、三十七条）. gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202312/content_69201…
2. 全国人大常委会. 中华人民共和国刑法（经刑法修正案十一修正的整合文本）第二百三十四条之一. flk.npc.gov.cn/detail?id=ff808181796a636a0179…
3. 最高人民检察院 (2012-04-09). 「少年卖肾买苹果手机」案诉至法院. spp.gov.cn/gs/201204/t20120409_34342.shtml
4. 河北省廊坊市中级人民法院官网转载 (2014-09-02). 全国最大贩肾案终审 组织者摘肾 51 枚获利千万. lfzy.hebeicourt.gov.cn/article/detail/2014/09…