BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- In May 2026, Wu Yuyang, a young college student working as an intern in east China's Jiangsu Province, traveled to Qingdao in the neighboring Shandong Province to donate hematopoietic stem cells. Meanwhile, a mother of a three-year-old child was waiting for cells that might give her a second chance at life.
About three months later, Wu received an unexpected piece of news: a fellow student at his alma mater, the Shandong Cultural Industry Vocational College, had made the same choice to become a stem cell donor. He, too, was named Wu Yuyang.
The two young men are the 296th and 309th hematopoietic stem cell donors in Qingdao, respectively, and two among more than 20,000 people in China who have made hematopoietic stem cell donations for unrelated recipients through China's national data bank of hematopoietic stem cell donors.
The China Marrow Donor Program (CMDP) announced on Friday that it has facilitated 24,000 hematopoietic stem cell donations from unrelated donors since its launch in 2001.
The program is now the world's fourth-largest bone marrow donor registry, with nearly 3.79 million registered potential stem cell donors.
Hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow are responsible for producing all types of blood cells. Donations from unrelated volunteers can be life-saving for individuals battling blood disorders such as leukemia and sickle cell anemia.
"To be honest, I was quite surprised -- pleasantly surprised," the elder Wu, now a staff member of the Shanghai Metro in east China, said after learning that his younger namesake had followed in his footsteps. "But more than anything, I was happy. To be connected by the same place and the same cause is a very special kind of bond."
Yang Yunxia, mother of the younger Wu, said she was worried about her son's health at first. "However, when my son told me, 'Mom, I am saving someone's life,' all those worries turned into pride. It is something meaningful, and I fully support him," she noted.
China reported its first case of a bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor in 1996.
In recent years, as the CMDP has improved its capacity and as public awareness and understanding of hematopoietic stem cell donation have grown, more people are joining both the donor registry and the ranks of those willing to make an actual donation.
According to the CMDP, it took more than two decades for the program to go from its first unrelated hematopoietic stem cell donation to the 10,000th. But for the latest 1,000 cases, from the 23,000th donation to the 24,000th, the journey took only 112 days.
The CMDP's reach also extends beyond China's borders. It joined the World Marrow Donor Association in 2012, opening further channels for international donor matching.
A few months ago, a primary-level medical worker from the northern Chinese city of Tianjin underwent stem cell collection and donated 350 milliliters of hematopoietic stem cell suspension to a patient with a blood disorder overseas. She was this city's 16th donor to provide hematopoietic stem cells to a patient outside the Chinese mainland.
To date, the CMDP has facilitated 441 donations to patients in 35 overseas countries and regions.
World Marrow Donor Day falls on Sept. 22 this year. ■
