Doctors of the No. 1 Central Hospital of Tianjin in north China succeeded in 507 liver transplant operations and helped their colleagues of other hospitals in completing 300 similar operations last year, accounting for one third of the operations conducted nationwide.

The city health bureau said Tuesday the two figures put together dwarfed the world's record of annual liver transplant operations the organ transplant center of the Pittsburgh University, the United States, had kept for nearly 10 years.

The record-setting achievements also helped place the Oriental Organ Transplant Center of the Tianjin hospital among the leading liver transplant institutes in the world, the bureau said.

Last year, the hospital also succeeded in 367 kidney transplant operations, the biggest number among Chinese hospitals.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2005)