The Chinese government has announced it will stop using the organs of executed prisoners for transplants by January 1.

The news comes after years of criticism from human-rights groups of the practice.

China has for years relied on the organs of executed prisoners for use in transplant surgery, but this will be banned after January 1.

China’s Human Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee director Huang Jiefu has previously said that around 300,000 people each year require transplant surgery, but only around 10,000 operations are carried out.

Approximately 65% of transplants in China use organs from deceased donors, of those 90% were from executed prisoners, according to a report cited by the Wall Street Journal.

The ban raises questions about from where China will fill the organ void, as an online poll in 2012 showed that 66% of respondents were unwilling to donate organs.

Voluntary donation of organs continues to be rare due to traditional cultural concerns.

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