In many parts of the world, people are given paperwork when they apply for driver's licenses which they can fill out to agree to give their organs away after their deaths.

Eighty percent of Australian drivers use such opportunities to agree to donate their organs, as do 45 percent of British drivers.

"I am sure the Chinese people are very kind-hearted and will always be willing to help others in need," Huang said.

He said only individual persons should be able to decide if they want to give organs to others and that organ donation "is just a matter of personal choice rather than of morality".

To encourage benevolence, incentives should be given to those who agree to donate organs. He said donors' families should be exempted from having to pay the medical costs and funeral expenses of donors, and should receive tax rebates, medical insurance or tuition waivers.

Shi Bingyi, a veteran organ transplant expert at the No 309 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army in Beijing, welcomed the plan.

At the hospital where Shi works, patients must often wait from two to three years to secure kidneys that are suitable for their bodies.

"The situation would be improved once the new initiative begins to run smoothly," he said. "But it will take time."

Public opinion is divided about the proposal.

A Beijing resident, Xu Liyu, said he is willing to donate organs after his death in return for no compensation, if doing so will help save lives.

Not everyone is of the same mind. Shao Pei, a Beijing-based IT worker, said: "I won't donate till I am sure that the use is transparent and fair."