China's State Council on Thursday passed a draft regulation to tighten controls on human organ transplants, banning live organ donation by people under 18 years old.

The draft regulation, passed at a regular meeting of China's cabinet, says that any organization or individual is strictly forbidden to remove human organs from living Chinese citizen under 18 years old for transplant.

It also bans human organ trading, saying that the donation of organs should respect the will of donors and be conducted voluntarily.

China is faced with a huge gap between the patients who need functional organs and limited donations. About 1.5 million patients need organ transplants each year, but only 10,000 can find organs, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health.

Most organs in China are donated by ordinary citizens upon their death after the voluntary signing of donation agreements.

Medical experts believe that if organs were allowed to be removed from people declared "brain-dead", the organ supply would be increased significantly.

However, Chinese people's traditional view of "living till the last breath" has prevented this regulation being passed.

The draft regulation has been made in accordance with worldwide recognized medical ethics and the WHO's basic rules on human organ transplants, says a statement issued by the State Council on Thursday.

The regulation has been adopted to follow international practices and laws, it says.

The regulation is also expected to protect the rights of organ donors, recipients of organs and medical staff.

According to the regulation, medical institutes carrying out human organ transplants will be strictly supervised and managed.