Seven people in the north-central Chinese province of Gansu have been arrested over a blood-donation scandal concerning allegations children were forced to donate blood for a company located in the northwest province of Gansu.

Among the arrested is a man identified by the state-run Xinhua News Agency only has "Huang," the deputy chief of a blood center run by Lanzhou Institute of Biological Products in the Gansu city of Wuwei. The facility is of China's largest suppliers of blood products. 

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Huang told police he under pressure to find more donors. An acquaintance, identified as "Zhang," took primary and secondary school students aged 10 to 16 to the center, where they were reportedly forced to donate three times the average amount for donors who volunteer. Officials estimate the illegal donations occurred once a month over a span of seven months.

The children were beaten if they did not comply, and law enforcement was contacted only after a boy went to his parents for help from the beatings. Reports state the boy looked sick and pale.

Zhang, who quickly brought others into the scheme, forged false IDs for the children involved. 

Huang said he offered 50 yuan (about $8 USD) in cash to first-time donors at the center, although officials suspect Zhang and his associates netted the profits for themselves. The gang is said to have pocketed 6,250 yuan ($1000). 

China has a dubious history of blood donation scandals. In the mid-1990s, a blood donation campaign in Henan Province resulted in 500,000 HIV infections when blood was taken from donors into a collective pool. Plasma was extracted and the mixed blood was then re-administered back into the donors. 

In China, the legal age for blood donation is from 18 to 55. Blood centers are mandated to check the age and identity of a potential donor twice over before taking blood. 

The Gansu investigation is on-going.

Tagsblood donation scandal, blood donation, Lanzhou Institute of Biological Products, Wuwei, Gansu