BEIJING - China's Internet users have selected 10 individuals and groups as China's "Good Samaritans," for the first quarter of 2016.

The winners were announced Wednesday following votes by hundreds of thousands of netizens since April 1, according to Xinhua News Agency, the initiator and sponsor of the event.

They include Chu Yude, a renowned surgeon who invented the one-man operated colonoscopy exam to ease patients' pain. He only charges a regular consultation fee, which has saved his patients 1 million yuan ($154,500) over the years. He also published his own telephone number for public scrutiny, turned down all sorts of bribery, and raised donations to save poor patients. Chu has even lent his own money to his patients.

The winners also include Bi Laying, a pig breeder. She and her father used more than 400,000 yuan that they had earned over the past 30 years to help more than 1,000 impoverished students.

The traffic police brigade for the high-tech zone in Dalian city in Northeast China's Liaoning province was among the winners. They spared no efforts to guarantee public's travel safety and would stay overtime until they had cleared the congested streets.

The online vote, held since 2010, is conducted quarterly to promote ordinary people's deeds and improve moral awareness.