How to Register for Organ Donation: A Step-by-Step Guide
TimeWill · Updated 2026-06-19
In China, organ donation is registered through the China Organ Donation Administrative Center website or its WeChat mini-program. Registration is free and can be withdrawn at any time. The key step after registering is telling your family, because after you pass the final decision rests with your family, not your registration record. State your donation wishes clearly in your digital will too, so the information reaches them alongside everything else they need. Registering takes about five minutes; making sure your family knows and agrees is what makes it possible. If you are unsure, read the official registration page first, then talk it through with the person who would be making the decision.
Register at the China Organ Donation Administrative Center (www.china-organdonation.org.cn) or by searching the 'China Organ Donation' mini-program on WeChat. It takes about five minutes, it's free, and you can withdraw at any time. You'll fill in your personal information and your donation wishes (organs, body, or corneas). For more, see After-Death Checklist.
The Most Important Step: Tell Your Family
Your family can't see your donation registration while you're alive. If you never brought it up, they may decline the donation after you pass, because they don't know it was your wish. Record your donation wishes in TimeWill so they're sent to your family automatically when the heartbeat triggers, and tell them in person as well.
What happens after registration
Registering expresses a wish; it does not mean donation can happen at any time. Actual donation requires that the person die in a hospital, since organs need circulating blood, and that there are no disqualifying conditions such as infectious disease or malignancy, and that the family is informed and agrees. That is why many registrations never result in donation — not because the registration was invalid, but because conditions did not allow it.
Donation generally requires dying in an ICU or emergency department, and the time window is short. Deaths at home or at the scene of an accident usually cannot donate organs, though corneas and body donation may still be possible. The assessment is made jointly by the hospital and the donation centre, so the family does not have to make a technical judgement themselves.
Common concerns
- Will doctors stop trying to save me? — No. Death determination and donation are handled by two separate teams, with a legal requirement to keep them apart; the treating team does not take part in the donation decision
- Does it cost anything? — Registration and the entire donation process are free, and no fee is ever charged to the family
- Can I change my mind? — Yes. You can withdraw your registration at any time while alive, and the family holds a veto after death
- Will my name be made public? — No. Donor and recipient identities are kept mutually anonymous
Write your donation wishes out separately and keep them with your End-of-Life Planning Checklist, so nobody hesitates when the moment comes. For how to record property wishes, see How to Write a Will.
FAQ
Q: What's the difference between organ donation and body donation?
Organ donation transplants healthy organs to patients in need (heart, liver, kidneys, and so on). Body donation gives your body to a medical school for teaching and research. You can register for both on the same platform, or just one.
Q: If I register, will my organs definitely be donated?
Not necessarily. Donation only goes ahead if several conditions are met: you must pass away in a hospital (organs need maintained blood circulation), and you must have no contraindications such as an infectious disease or a malignant tumor. Your family also holds veto power, which is why you must tell them your wishes after registering.
Q: What's the difference between registering online and writing it in a digital will?
Online registration is an official record that hospitals can look up. Writing it in a digital will is for your family, to make sure they know your wishes. Doing both is ideal.
Related Guides
Record Your Donation Wishes
Free. Write it into your digital will and notify your family automatically.
Create for Free