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This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
A proposed legal ban on the use of surrogate mothers has been scrapped after lawmakers raised objections over the effectiveness of such a move.
Officials had initially included the ban in a draft amendment to the nation's Law on Population and Family Planning. Yet after a routine review, the top legislature removed the provision before approving the final draft.
Other amendments in the approved draft included allowing couples to have two children and extending maternity leave for mothers who abide by the law. The revised law has now come into effect.
Some members of the top legislature argued that surrogacy cannot be totally forbidden, adding that even with a law in place, rich people would still be able to go abroad to countries where surrogacy is allowed.
China already has regulations forbidding the use of surrogate mothers. However, law enforcement departments called for the ban to be written into law to enhance enforcement in tackling those who still offer such services.
Despite the regulations issued in 2001 by the Ministry of Health, now part of the commission, the practice has survived underground in many parts of China.
In April, the government launched a campaign to crack down on medical clinics that provide surrogacy services, but little progress was made due to a lack of legislation and enforcement at grassroots level.
This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Doctors in east China's Shandong Province have announced the successful transplant of a bio-engineered pig cornea into a human eye. The operation took place in late September.
The patient's vision has gradually improved after a three month recovery period, which means the transplant was a success.
The patient, 60-year-old Wang Xin-yi, had a serious corneal ulcer. He could only see moving objects within 10 centimeters.
The transplant used a bio-engineered cornea, the first such product to be accredited by the China Food and Drug Administration in late April.
With the pig cornea as the main material, the product is devoid of cells, hybrid proteins, and other antigens. It retains a natural collagen structure with remarkable bio-compatibility and biological safety.
Cornea diseases are some of the biggest causes of blindness in China, affecting around 4 million people. New cases are increasing by 100,000 each year; however, only around 5,000 people receive a cornea transplant annually.
Some hospitals in China have been conducting clinical trials of the pig cornea since 2010, recording a success rate of 94 percent, similar to the results seen with donated human corneas.
Doctors say this bio-engineered cornea may help millions of people to be able to see again.
