A resident donates blood Tuesday at the Shenzhen Blood Center, where the blood inventory was now 900,000 milliliters, equivalent to 11 days supply. Voluntary blood donations began in Shenzhen in 1993. A regulation passed by city lawmakers in 1995 promises unlimited and free blood for donors whenever they need a blood transfusion.
Since 1998, all blood for clinical use has come from voluntary donations. In the past 12 years, the city had never experienced an acute blood shortage, authorities said. Cities such as Beijing, Nanjing, Hefei and Kunming recently experienced acute blood shortages. Chen Faqing
