China's official bone marrow bank yesterday rejected online rumors that it charged money for bone marrow matches and transplants.

The China Marrow Donor Program, or CMDP, insisted it only collected expenses from patients on behalf of donors to cover medical checks and lost income.

With a database of 1.28 million donors, CMDP, under the Red Cross Society of China, provides a free search and match service, Hong Junling, director of CMDP, told The Beijing News.

The cost of collecting blood samples - 500 yuan (US$77.3) for each donor - is covered by the Ministry of Finance, Hong said.

To avoid direct contact between the donor and the recipient - a common international practice - CMDP collects money to cover the donor's physical examinations and lost income, transportation and other expenses from the recipients, said Hong.

The total of 20,000 yuan for each match is transferred to the donor.

CMDP has been audited every year and no malpractice or misuse of the money has been uncovered, Hong added.

Patients also need to pay 3,100 yuan directly to a laboratory for a high-resolution matching and are responsible for the donor's medical bill.

"The whole process can cost the patient 50,000 yuan, but CMDP doesn't receive a penny," Wang Jingbo, a doctor with the transplant center of Beijing Dao Pei Hospital, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

CMDP's clarification came after bloggers accused it of charging patients 500 yuan for each search and 50,000 yuan for the transplant.

But some web users criticized bloggers for publishing unverified information that would deter people from making donations.

"You should apologize to patients," said one netizen.