Nearly 4,000 people have donated organs after their death helping 10,000 recipients, a Chinese health official said on Wednesday.

As of last week 677 people had donated 1,725 organs so far this year, part of the total 3,824 he said.

The number of organ donors in China has been increasing steadily in the past few years, Gao Xinpu, deputy director of the Medical Affairs Department at China Organ Donation Administrative Center, told China Daily.

"The rate for organ donation per million population was 0.02 in 2010, and the figure reached 1.24 last year," he said. "This is a 60-fold increase."

About 35,000 volunteers have registered with the center for organ donation by mid-April, Gao said.

China has stopped using the organs of executed prisoners as the source for transplant surgery since January. Like many other countries, China faces a severe shortage of sources for transplant surgery, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Gao said measures such as medical relief for donors are needed to encourage donations to lessen the shortage of organ sources.