Wang Yuanyuan

    cheekywang@hotmail.com

    MORE than 500,000 citizens have donated blood totaling about 470 tons in Shenzhen, the first city to promote blood donations on the mainland, according to the city’s blood donation center.

    That’s a drastic turnaround from about 20 years ago, when Shenzhen had a blood shortage.

    “Before 1993, the city did not even have enough people who liked to sell their blood for money. More than 95 percent of the blood was transported from neighboring cities,” said Zhao Lizhen, vice chairman of the city’s Red Cross and one of the first people to initiate blood donations on the mainland. “In 1991, we went to visit the blood center in Hong Kong and were so impressed by their achievements in blood donation that we decided to utilize their experiences in Shenzhen.”

    On May 8, 1993, Shenzhen launched its first blood donation promotion campaign. On May 7, 1995, the mainland’s first blood donation van drove into Dongmen, Luohu District, and attracted more than 30 donors on the first day of the collections.

    Local people have made more than 2.35 million blood donations and saved more than 780,000 patients across the city, the center said.

    Over the past 20 years, local donors have won 9,847 awards for blood donation efforts. Shenzhen also has recorded 136 hemopoietic stem cell donations, the most among mainland cities.

    “I always donated blood in my home country as I thought it was the best way for me to help others and society. Shenzhen has done great work in blood donation services, so I have donated several times,” Iranian man Mehrdad Mehrbod, 37, said earlier this year.