Ding Yitao

WOIPFG's Investigative Report on the Alleged Organ Harvesting of Living Falun Gong Practitioners by Ding Yitao, Director of the Organ Transplant Center of Nanjing University Medical School-affiliated Gulou Hospital

Jun 16, 2025

Summary: Ding Yitao, male, is the Director of the Hospital Management Research Institute at Nanjing University, Vice President of Nanjing University Medical School, Honorary Director of Nanjing University Medical School-affiliated Gulou Hospital, leader of the General Surgery discipline and Director of the Organ Transplant Center at Nanjing Gulou Hospital, and Director of Xianlin International Hospital of Nanjing Gulou Hospital. The departments of Urology, General Surgery, and Hepatobiliary Surgery all offer organ transplant services. The Urology Department has 120 beds and is approved by the Ministry of Health for transplants. The General Surgery Department, which includes an Organ Transplant Center, has 164 beds. The Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, which includes transplant, liver, and biliary-pancreatic surgery, has 180 beds. WOIPFG’s telephone investigation indicated suspicious sources of organs, with doctors admitting to using organs from Falun Gong practitioners in the past, and short transplant waiting times. The chief surgeon of the Organ Transplant Department, Huang Xinli, is allegedly involved in illegal organ harvesting.

In view of the broader background of the Chinese Communist Party's state crime of organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners, since Nanjing Gulou Hospital has been allegedly involved in the crime, Ding Yitao, the director of the hospital's Organ Transplant Center, is a major suspect.

Ding Yitao, male.

Profile: Ding Yitao is director of the Research Institute of Hospital Management at Nanjing University, vice president of Nanjing University School of Medicine, honorary president of Nanjing Gulou Hospital affiliated to Nanjing University School of Medicine, head of the General Surgery Department, director of the Organ Transplantation Center at Nanjing Gulou Hospital, and president of Xianlin International Hospital of Nanjing Gulou Hospital. He is also a senior member of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association and vice president of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association’s Organ Transplantation Branch. He is also the director of the Hepatobiliary Research Institute of Nanjing University and an editorial board member of dozens of professional medical journals, such as the Chinese Journal of Organ Transplantation.

In his early years, he studied at the Liver Surgery Institute of the People's Liberation Army and the Australian National Liver Transplant Center. From May 1996 to August 2014, he was the president of Nanjing University School of Medicine-affiliated Gulou Hospital.[1] He is currently the director of the Organ Transplant Center of Nanjing Gulou Hospital, a standing member of the Chinese Organ Transplant Society, and the honorary director-level member of the Jiangsu Province Organ Transplant Society.[2]

The hospital was the first to carry out combined liver and kidney transplantation in Jiangsu Province

The hospital was the first to carry a liver transplant in Jiangsu Province, and in 2001, it was the first in Jiangsu Province to carry out a combined liver and kidney transplant.[3] .On May 23, 2007, the hospital was designated by the Ministry of Health as qualified to perform kidney and liver transplants[4].

Ding Yitao had studied at the Institute of Liver Surgery of the People’s Liberation Army and the Australian National Liver Transplantation Unit. From May 1996 to August 2014, he was the director of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, which is affiliated with Nanjing University School of Medicine. Currently, he is the director of the Organ Transplantation Center of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, Standing Committee member of the Chinese Society of Organ Transplantation and honorary director of the Jiangsu Provincial Society of Organ Transplantation[6]. The Departments of Urinary Surgery, General Surgery and Hepatobiliary Surgery all offer organ transplantation services. The Department of Urinary Surgery is one of the key medical disciplines of Jiangsu Province’s “135 Project”. It is also a key clinical specialty of Jiangsu Province and a key medical discipline of the City of Nanjing. It has 120 ward beds and is an organ transplant unit designated by the Ministry of Health[7]. There are more than 100,000 outpatients, more than 4,800 hospitalized surgeries, more than 1,000 outpatient surgeries, and more than 4,000 patients discharged from the hospital.

The General Surgery Department has an organ transplantation center with 164 beds [8] .

The Hepatological Surgery Department is consisted of Organ Transplant, Hepatic Surgery and Biliopancreatic Surgery Departments, as well as the Hepatobiliary Research Institute of Nanjing University. There are currently 180 ward beds[9].

The Department of Urinary Surgery currently has more than 100 medical and nursing staff, including four chief surgeons and professors, two doctoral student supervisors, eight postgraduate student supervisors, eight associate chief surgeons and associate professors. It is an organ transplant unit approved (accredited) by the Ministry of Health.[10]

The general surgery department also has an organ transplantation center. They have 76 medical and nursing staff, including nine chief surgeons, 20 associate chief surgeons and 10 attending surgeons.[11] They are able to form multiple liver and kidney transplant surgical teams.

The hospital's official website claimed:

Kidney transplantation: The Department of Urinary Surgery has performed kidney transplantation and combined liver-kidney transplantation, ranking among the top nationwide in the number of transplants performed. The hospital claims to have completed more than 50 kidney transplants every year[12].

Liver transplantation: As of March 2008, 314 liver transplants had been performed at the hospital.[13]

Telephone Investigation: suspicious origins of organs and a doctor admitting to having used organs of Falun Gong practitioners in the past, and short organ wait times

1. The hospital is unable to explain the organ sources and a doctor admits to having used organs of Falun Gong practitioners in the past.

Investigation Respondent: Liver transplant surgeon at Nanjing Gulou Hospital

Investigation Date: July 9, 2017 (Tel: +86-2583106666)

Summary:

Surgeon: We do a lot, we did four transplants last week. There are many channels for organs sources. That’s the government’s concern. We are only responsible for providing technologies and the follow-up services.
We are unable to take care of other things!

Investigator: Why would organs from Falun Gong practitioners be allowed to be used in the past?
Surgeon: Human rights were not important in the past!”

(Recording 1 download: MP3; for complete recording transcript, please see: Attachment 20) [14]

2. Wait time for transplant is short

Investigation Respondent: Liver Transplant, Nanjing Gulou Hospital

Investigation Date: June 25, 2018 (Tel: +862583106666)

Summary:

Surgeon: “We have done 50 to 60 cases of liver transplantation this year. The wait time is short, around ten days or a half month.”[15]

(Recording 2 download: MP3; for complete recording transcript, please see: pdf attachment) [16]

Investigation Respondent: Doctor at the liver transplant doctors’ office at Nanjing Gulou Hospital[17]

Investigation Date: December 23, 2019 (Tel: +86-25-83106666)

Summary: Generally speaking, it can be done within one month.

(Recording 3 download: MP3; transcript download: pdf 194)

The hospital once completed 13 organ transplants within 7 days.

According to a report on the hospital’s official website, during the “Golden Week” of October 2018 (i.e. the week of October 1, 2018), Nanjing Gulou Hospital completed 13 organ transplant operations, including seven kidney transplants, five liver transplants and one lung transplant[18].

Huang Xinli, Chief Surgeon of the Organ Transplantation Department, Involved in the Case of Illegal Organ Harvesting
From 2017 to 2018, Huang Xinli, chief surgeon of Nanjing Gulou Hospital, conducted unauthorized human organ donation across regions. Without the joint signature and confirmation of the deceased's spouse, adult children, and parents, he performed 11 cases of organ harvesting in Huaiyuan County against the wishes of the deceased or their close relatives. [19]Huang Xinli is a member of the OPO (Organ Procurement Organization) of Nanjing Gulou Hospital, mainly engaged in the extraction of human organs. [20] According to the hospital's official website, he is a member of the Organ Donation and Management Group of the Organ Transplantation Branch of the Jiangsu Medical Association. In January 2018, Huang Xinli was transferred from the Hepatobiliary Center of Jiangsu Provincial People's Hospital to Nanjing Gulou Hospital through a talent introduction program. [21]

References

[1] 南京鼓楼医院肝胆外科http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

https://web.archive.org/web/20160214001421/http://www.njglyy.com/subjec…

[2] Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, Nanjing Gulou Hospital. http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

https://web.archive.org/web/20160214001421/http://www.njglyy.com/subjec…

[3] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the General Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=87

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/cn/images/nationalcriminalreports/852.png

[4] National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People's Republic of China. (August 6, 2007). “The Notice on Organ Transplant Registration of Medical Subjects by Office of the Ministry of Health. Attachment: 1. List of Hospitals Approved by the Clinical Application of Organ Transplantation Technology Committee of MOH.doc. Retrieved from http://www.moh.gov.cn/mohyzs/s3s585/200804/18974.shtml

WOIPFG archived link: http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/cn/images/nationalcriminalreports/400.png

[5] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.upholdjustice.org/upload/images/nationalcriminalreports/853…

[6] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.upholdjustice.org/upload/images/nationalcriminalreports/853…

[7] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the Urology Department.” Retrieved from http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=92

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.upholdjustice.org/upload/images/nationalcriminalreports/851…

[8] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the General Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=87

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/cn/images/nationalcriminalreports/852.png

[9] Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital. “Overview of the Hepatobiliary Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.upholdjustice.org/upload/images/nationalcriminalreports/853…

[10] Nanjing Gulou Hospital. “Overview of the General Surgery Department.” http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=87

WOIPFG Archived Link:

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/cn/images/nationalcriminalreports/852.png

[11] Nanjing Gulou Hospital. “Overview of the Urology Surgery Department.”

http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=92

https://web.archive.org/web/20130508002129/http://www.njglyy.com/subjec…

[12] Chinese Journal of Organ Transplantation, Vol. 29, No. 12, 2008, pp. 715-717 "Causes and Treatment Experience of Abdominal Abscess After Liver Transplantation" Authors: Xu Qingxiang, Wu Yafu, Qiu Yudong, Wu Xingyu , Li Qiang, Ding Yitao (Hepatobiliary Surgery, Gulou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University School of Medicine, 210008);

[13] "Jiangsu Medicine Journal", 2004, Vol. 30, No. 06, pp. 467-468 "Joint liver and kidney extraction from cadavers and its clinical application" Authors: Chen Ming, Sun Zeyu, Ding Yitao, Wu Yafu, Zhang Gutian, Li Qiang, Qiu Yudong, Lan Houjin (210008, Gulou Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing University School of Medicine);

[14] WOIPFG. “WOIPFG’s Investigation Report on Status Quo of the CCP’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners (IV).” October 17, 2017. http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/77139

[15] 鼓楼医院国庆假期开展12例移植手术发布时间：[2018-10-16]

[16] WOIPFG. “WOIPFG’s Investigation Report on Status Quo of the CCP’s Live Organ Harvesting of Falun Dafa Practitioners (V).” July 20, 2018. http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/node/96870

[17] 《澎湃新闻》怀远非法摘取器官案判决：涉及11名死者 4医生被判毁尸罪 2020年11月26日

[18] “Hospital performed 12 transplant operations during the National Day holiday”. Author: admincs. October 16, 2018. http://archive.is/NHYux

[19] 《南京鼓楼医院》肝胆外科

http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

追查国际存档链接：

http://www.zhuichaguoji.org/cn/images/nationalcriminalreports/853.png

[20] 南京鼓楼医院肝胆外科http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

https://web.archive.org/web/20160214001421/http://www.njglyy.com/subjec…

[21] Hepatobiliary Surgery Department, Nanjing Gulou Hospital. http://www.njglyy.com/subject/subject-1.asp?id=88

https://web.archive.org/web/20160214001421/http://www.njglyy.com/subjec…