BEIJING — China has processed 2,950 organ donations in the first nine months of this year, up 50 percent year on year, according to figures unveiled by the health authority on Oct 16.

This exceeds the number undertaken in 2015, which stood at 2,766, the National Health and Family Planning Commission said in a statement.

At present, the annual average number of organ donations in China is first in Asia and third around the world, and its annual number of organ transplants is second only to the United States.

The government started to pilot changes to the organ donation system in 2010, and in 2011, the unauthorized trading of organs was made illegal through an amendment to the Criminal Law. Moreover, a new system for organ management and distribution was launched in 2013 to better regulate donations.

The increase in voluntary donations shows that the public is more confident in the distribution of donated organs, said Ye Qifa, a member of China’s National Organ Donation and Transplantation Committee.