GUANGZHOU - The four surviving quintuplets born to a migrant-worker family in Guangzhou in August were discharged from the hospital on Monday.

The quintuplets were born premature and had been in critical condition at the Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Care Hospital. They weighed 720 grams to 940 grams at birth.

The four surviving infants, two boys and two girls, now each weigh close to 3 kg, said Yang Jie, director of the infant department of the hospital.

The four still have unstable gastrointestinal function, though that has improved. They will need regular eye examinations, but the eye disease in one girl had been cured, and the situation in the other three has improved.

"Today marks a new beginning. The babies and their parents will face challenges. Because of their immature immune systems, they may face infection threats. My team will continue to follow their situation," Yang said.

The infants received widespread public attention because quintuplets are uncommon and the financial difficulty of their parents, from Henan province.

The parents received more than 1.1 million yuan ($170,325) in donations from more than 2,000 people and are donating about 380,000 yuan that wasn't used to a program benefiting infants from low-income families, said Zheng Xiaoni, the mother.

Individuals and charity groups have visited the family at the hospital and donated milk powder and diapers.

The father, who was unemployed when the babies were born, was offered a job at a convenience store in Guangzhou after their situation was made public.

The four babies have received their birth certificates, and the mother hoped their household registration process would be smooth.

In the past 16 years, 17 sets of quintuplets were born in China, and in only six of those sets did all survive, according to the Guangdong Provincial Maternal and Child Care Hospital.

Only 50 percent of single birth babies weighing 800 g to 1,000 g survive in China, and the risks grow with premature multiple-birth babies.