The COVID-19 pandemic has not seriously affected organ donations in China, with a slight fall in the number of donors expected this year, a former vice-minister of health said on Thursday.

"Organ donations have not been interrupted in most areas in China this year despite the epidemic," said Huang Jiefu, also director of the China National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee. "The number of organ donors this year may decrease a little compared with last year."

However, in some other countries, organ donations have been suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and large declines in donations are expected this year, he said.

Organ donations in China have kept rising in general since 2010-the year when China started to pilot organ donations－largely due to increasing public awareness.

Last year, more than 5,800 people donated organs upon their deaths in China, compared with 34 in 2010. More than 27,000 people had donated organs between 2010 and last year, according to China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation.

China now ranks first in Asia in both the number of organ donors and transplant surgeries completed each year, and it may become No 1 in the world in both figures in two to three years, Huang said.

Huang made the remarks in an interview on Thursday ahead of a ceremony in Beijing promoting organ donation.

During the ceremony, the China Organ Transplantation Development Foundation unveiled its official logo and published a group of stamps with an organ donation theme in conjunction with China Post.

Despite the increased availability of organ donors, the supply of organs is still falling far short of demand in China, Huang said.

About 20,000 transplants have been completed in China each year over the past two years, which means only one-third of all registered patients in need could get one, he said.

In addition to increased efforts to encourage donations, the number of hospitals certified to perform transplants needs to increase to about 300, from the current 173, to meet the needs of patients, Huang said.