BEIJING - A total of 12.32 million Chinese donated 4,164 tonnes of blood in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 3.71 percent and 5.18 percent, respectively, the Ministry of Health announced on Tuesday.

The ministry commended several regions for their efforts to attract donors, citing the city of Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province for its efforts to make blood donation benefits more readily accessible to donors.

However, China still faces a grave challenge in maintaining sufficient blood supplies, the ministry said.

Currently, only 87 out of every 10,000 people donate blood on the Chinese mainland, far less than the average of 454 for every 10,000 people in developed countries and the WHO-recommended figure of 100 for every 10,000 people.

The ministry estimated that the country will need 120,000 new donors per day to satisfy demand by 2015.

The ministry urged blood stations to develop sustainable strategies to expand donor pools, as well as asked medical institutions to train personnel on the proper use of donated blood.