A 62-year-old man in China has recovered after he received a lung transplant in a hospital in south China's Guangdong Province 35 days ago.

The patient, surnamed Yang, is the oldest person in China to successfully undergo a lung transplant operation, according to Zhong Nanshan, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

Zhong was the surgeon in charge of the operation on Yang, and head of the Breathing Research Institute of the No. 1 Hospital affiliated to the Guangzhou College of Medical Sciences.

The patient has begun walking in a ward in the hospital and is doing exercises to improve his muscle function. He can now breathe freely without the help of an air tank.

Yang had suffered intermediate and terminal chronic obstructive pneumonia and serious emphysema for more than 10 years before he received the lung transplant in late June.

In the last three years, he relied on highly-concentrated oxygen around the clock and also suffered heart problems.

Zhong Nanshan said a survey jointly carried out by his institute and the World Health Organization experts showed that the incidence of chronic obstructive pneumonia in Guangdong Province was 9 percent.

The incidence of the disease among males was as high as 13 percent. The ratio in north China stands at 10 percent on average, Zhong said.

He said that Yang's case was of great reference value in treating chronic obstructive pneumonia patients in China.

So far, nine people have survived lung transplants in China. China's first lung transplant was done in 1995.

(Xinhua News Agency July 31, 2003)