Heart failure · Transplantation
Heart transplant in China:
the facts, and the limits.
Heart transplantation is the definitive treatment for end-stage heart failure, and China's programme has grown quickly. But organs are allocated through a national system with priority for Chinese citizens, and the rules effectively rule out transplant travel. This page sets out the data and what international patients can do instead.
Quick answer
Can a foreigner get a heart transplant in China?
Generally, no. A 2007 Ministry of Health notice (卫办医发〔2007〕110号) bars hospitals from transplanting organs into foreign citizens who come to China as tourists. Transplants for foreign residents must be reported to and reviewed by the provincial and national health authorities, and Chinese citizens have priority. Donor hearts are allocated through the national COTRS computer system. We do not arrange transplant travel. International patients with end-stage heart failure can still be assessed in China, and an LVAD may be an option.
941
Heart transplants, 2023
Up from 279 in 2015
China Heart Transplant Registry
5,208
Transplants, 2015–2023
Reported by transplant centres across mainland China
China CV report 2024
7.6%
In-hospital mortality
2,262 transplants at 57 hospitals, 2015–2019
Chin Med J 2025
13.7% vs 22.8%
1-year mortality by centre volume
Centres averaging ≥20 vs <20 transplants a year
Chin Med J 2025
12.5 yrs
Median survival (international)
Adults transplanted 2002–2009; 14.8 years if alive at 1 year
ISHLT registry 2019
2007
Transplant-tourism ban
No transplants for foreign citizens visiting as tourists
卫办医发〔2007〕110号
Options
What international patients can do.
Transplant evaluation
A Chinese heart failure team can assess whether you are a transplant candidate, which helps you get listed at home or in a country whose rules allow it.
Assessment
LVAD
A heart pump needs no donor organ, so the transplant rules don't apply. It can bridge you to a transplant at home or serve as long-term therapy.
See LVAD page
Optimise devices first
Some patients referred for transplant haven't yet had CRT, CCM or a reversible cause treated. A review can identify steps that delay the need for transplant.
Pathway review
Transplant travel to China
Prohibited for foreign citizens coming as tourists. We do not arrange it, and any offer to do so should be treated as a serious red flag.
Not arranged
The rules
Why transplant travel to China isn't an option
China built a national organ donation and allocation system between 2005 and 2015. Donated hearts are matched through the China Organ Transplant Response System (COTRS), which ranks patients by medical urgency, location, age and blood type. Every transplant must be reported to the China Heart Transplant Registry for quality control.
The 2007 Ministry of Health notice on organ transplants for overseas applicants sets three rules. Hospitals and doctors may not transplant organs into foreign citizens who come to China as tourists. Applications from foreign residents must be reported to the provincial health authority and reviewed nationally. Organ transplantation gives priority to Chinese citizens, including permanent residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. The 2024 Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation (State Council Decree 767) further tightened oversight of organ procurement and allocation.
The data
How China's heart transplant programme performs
The China Heart Transplant Registry reported 2,262 transplants at 57 hospitals between 2015 and 2019. In-hospital mortality was 7.6% and showed no significant change over the period. One-year mortality was 16.6%, which the authors noted was higher than in the US. However, it was 13.7% at centres averaging at least 20 transplants a year, compared with 22.8% at smaller centres. Volume has kept growing, reaching 941 transplants in 2023.
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transplants | 279 | 368 | 446 | 490 | 679 | 557 | 738 | 710 | 941 |
Source: 2024 annual report on cardiovascular health and diseases in China.
For evaluation
Leading transplant
and heart failure centres.
Fuwai Hospital 阜外医院
National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases; lead authors of the China Heart Transplant Registry five-year report (Chin Med J 2025)
Beijing Anzhen Hospital 北京安贞医院
Heart failure and LVAD programme; lead centre, CH-VAD study
FAQ
Heart transplant questions — answered.
- Can I travel to China for a heart transplant?
- Not as a foreign citizen visiting for treatment. A 2007 Ministry of Health notice prohibits transplants for foreign citizens who come as tourists. Organ allocation runs through the national COTRS system with priority for Chinese citizens. Treat any agency offering a quick heart transplant in China as a serious warning sign.
- What is the survival rate after heart transplant?
- In the international ISHLT registry, adults transplanted in 2002–2009 had a median survival of 12.5 years, or 14.8 years for those who survived the first year. In China's registry (2015–2019), in-hospital mortality was 7.6% and 1-year mortality 16.6%. One-year mortality was lower at higher-volume centres (13.7% vs 22.8%).
- How many heart transplants does China do?
- The China Heart Transplant Registry recorded 941 heart transplants in 2023, and 5,208 between 2015 and 2023.
- What can I do in China if I need a transplant?
- You can have a full heart failure evaluation, a review of whether device options have been fully used (CRT, CCM, ICD), and, if appropriate, an LVAD. That pump can bridge you to a transplant in your home country or support you long term.
Related guides
Heart failure treatment (hub)
The step-by-step pathway from medication to devices, LVAD and transplant.
Read the guideICD for sudden-death prevention
Single-, dual-chamber and extravascular ICDs; who qualifies at EF ≤35%.
Read the guideCRT-P / CRT-D (biventricular pacing)
For wide QRS with left bundle branch block: trial data and criteria.
Read the guideCardiac contractility modulation (CCM)
A device option for narrow QRS, EF 25–45% — approved in China.
Read the guideLVAD (artificial heart pump)
HeartMate 3 and Chinese-made pumps: outcomes and approvals.
Read the guideCardiac surgery in China
Bypass, valve surgery, TAVR and other procedures that treat reversible causes.
Read the guideSources
References
- Ministry of Health General Office. 卫生部办公厅关于境外人员申请人体器官移植有关问题的通知 (卫办医发〔2007〕110号), 26 June 2007 — no transplants for foreign citizens visiting as tourists; foreign residents require provincial and national health-authority review; Chinese citizens have priority.
- State Council Decree No. 767. 人体器官捐献和移植条例 (Regulations on Human Organ Donation and Transplantation), effective 1 May 2024.
- Lin S, et al.; China Heart Transplant Registry Collaborative Group. Heart transplantation performance in China: five-year experience after transplantation system reform. Chin Med J (Engl). 2025;138(5):589–591.
- 2024 annual report on cardiovascular health and diseases in China: data and trend (China Heart Transplant Registry figures, 2015–2023).
- Khush KK, et al. The International Thoracic Organ Transplant Registry of the ISHLT: Thirty-sixth adult heart transplantation report — 2019. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2019;38(10):1056–1066.
Told you need a transplant?
Get the whole pathway reviewed.
Send your records. A partner heart failure team will check whether every earlier step has been used, whether an LVAD is an option and what to ask your home transplant centre. We will be straightforward about what China can and can't offer you.
This page is for general education only and is not medical advice. Device and surgical treatment for heart failure depends on your ejection fraction, ECG, symptoms, other conditions and how you respond to medication, and only your cardiologist can decide what fits. Trial results describe groups of patients, not what will happen to you. We are an independent patient-coordination service and are not affiliated with any device manufacturer.