Chinese stem-cell donation to save Indian life hailed

Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng hailed the recent stem cell donation by a Chinese man for the treatment of a 16-year-old Indian boy who was suffering from leukaemia, a media report said on Thursday.

"Good relations between two countries start with their people's closeness, this selfless action is a typical way to prove that saying," the ambassador said.

On July 11, the stem cells donated by a Chinese man were transplanted into the patient's body in Delhi, the People's Daily reported.

It was the first of its kind case involving a patient from India and a donor from China. The Indian teenager is in stable condition.

The donor, Liu Zhiwen, 37, works as an editor with a newspaper in Ma Anshan city in Anhui province.

Liu registered as a volunteer donor of China Marrow Donor Programme in 2012 but said he never expected his stem cell would be used by a foreigner.

"It's unexpected to have my bone marrow samples matched with a foreign person. It's a gift for my life. As the father of a 12-year-old child, I understand the feelings of the Indian boy's parents. I just wanted to help," the donor said.

Experts said that it is not easy to find two people whose stem cells match with each other. The chance of two non-relatives having matching stem cells can be less than one in ten thousand.