China's top health authority has granted an organ transplant permit to Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in an attempt to encourage transplants with organs donated by the public.

But unlike other hospitals carrying out transplants, Zhongnan is the only government-licensed transplant center to accept organs donated through a system that does not cover donations from inmates on death row.

For a long time, the medical procedure mainly relied on organs from executed prisoners, with written consent from donors and the families required.