People pay tribute to organ donors at a public cemetery in Shanghai on Friday. The event was held to remember organ donors and promote public understanding of organ donation. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

Nearly 170,000 people had registered as organ donors in China by the end of last year, an event to remember organ donors in China was told on Friday in Shanghai.

The ceremony was also meant to promote public understanding of organ donation.

In March 2010, the Red Cross Society of China and the former Ministry of Health started the organ donation system, encouraging citizens to voluntarily donate organs after their death as a way to extend another's life.

Remarkable achievements have been made over the past seven years, and now the system has become a major channel for organ donation, Wang Ping, vice-president and secretary-general of the society, said at the event.

Officials said public understanding of organ donations and support has significantly improved over the years, and the number of people registering for organ donation is also on the rise. So far, about three in every 1 million people have registered.

A total of 4,080 organ donations were made in 2016, with 11,296 organs being donated, an increase of 47.5 percent over 2015.

Also last year, 104,538 people registered to become an organ donor, three times more than in 2015.

The event also noted that the development of the organ donation system is still in its initial stages, and varies in different areas. In the future, more policies will be made to support the system's long-term development.

At the event, Huang Jiefu, chairman of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee, was recognized for his special contribution to China's organ donation work.