Liu Yunlu (left) and Dong Binggang appear in Beijing Xicheng District People’s Court on Thursday to answer charges in connection with their alleged involvement in the traffi cking of human organs for transplant operations.

Two men appeared in a city courtroom on Thursday to face charges in connection with their alleged involvement in the trafficking of human organs.

The pair, 31-year-old Liu Yunlu, an unemployed man from Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province, and 25-year-old Dong Binggang, a farmer from Shaanxi province, are charged with conducting an illegal business operation.

They were charged with that offence because there is currently no specific offence aimed at human organ traffickers, but that is expected to change in the future.

Zhang Wenxiu, a prosecutor from Xicheng procuratorate, told Xicheng District People's Court that Liu, driven by the lure of huge potential profits, became a human organ trafficker in August 2008.

Zhang said Liu recruited potential donors and matched them with people in need of transplants via an Internet instant messaging service, online forums and blogs.

The court was told that, as a broker, Liu was also responsible for forging the necessary documentation.

Zhang said Dong started out as an organ donor himself when he was in dire need of money to save his ailing mother.

She said that in January 2009, Liu arranged for Dong to have an operation at a Beijing hospital where he had a kidney removed that was sold to a patient with kidney failure.

The court heard that the patient paid them 150,000 yuan ($22,800), of which Dong got 30,000 yuan.