Chinese doctors have performed the country's first face transplant, the second operation of its kind in the world, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

A man who receives a face transplant operation is shown in this photo taken on April 14, 2006. The man, surnamed Li, had suffered severe bear attack in 2004 and he at last undergoes a face transplant operation at a Xi'an hospital with the help of a voluntary organization. The operation starts on April 13 and lasts 14 hours. According to the hospital, the operation is successful.[Xinhua]

The 30-year-old patient, attacked by a bear, had two thirds of his face replaced in an operation that lasted 14 hours and ended on Friday.

"The surgery is even more complex than the first face transplant in France in November last year," said Han Yan, deputy director of the plastic surgery department of the Xijing Hospital in Xian, capital of Shaanxi province.

Surgeons in France carried out the world's first such operation on Isabelle Dinoire, 38, whose lips and nose were torn off by her own dog.

The Chinese patient was given a new cheek, upper lip, nose, and an eyebrow from a single donor, Xinhua said.

The patient was attacked by a bear in 2004.

"He has since lived as a recluse because of his horrific disfigurement," Xinhua said.

The patient was recovering, but it would take six months for feeling to be restored to the new face.

He also needed to overcome psychological and ethical problems, Xinhua added.

"His wife may take a long time to adjust to his new face," it said.

The Xijing hospital successfully performed a facial skin transplant operation on a rabbit in December, transplanting half the skin tissue from a New Zealand rabbit, Xinhua said.

"A fortnight later, the rabbit was in good condition with the eye on the transplanted side blinking naturally," the agency said.