Bone marrow bank in China has more than 360,000 donated samples since it opened in 2001.

The China Marrow Donor Program has collected more than 360,000 donated marrow samples for patient and research use, a record since the country first launched its national marrow project in 2001.

The Chinese government has allocated about 180 million Yuan ($22 million US) to support the marrow donor drive. There are more than 4 million leukemia patients in China, with about 1 million in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Hong Junling, director of the China Marrow Donor Program, has pledged to enlarge the bank even further in the next five years. "We plan to increase the number of bank deposits to about one million in 2010, which means about 80% of the Chinese leukemia patients may have the chance to find a matched donor to save their lives," Junling said.

With the number of marrow samples reaching 360,000, experts estimate more than half of Chinese leukemia patients will successfully find a bone marrow match in the initial stages of their disease.