China isn't ready to adopt a system that would urge citizens to agree while applying for a driver's license to give away their own organs if they should die in a car crash, a senior health official has said.

Deng Haihua, spokesman with the Ministry of Health, made the remarks at a regular press conference on Tuesday in response to reports saying China might adopt such a system to encourage voluntary organ donations. Media reports had previously quoted Huang Jiefu, vice-minister of health, as saying China will soon adopt the practice, which is now used in many other countries.

The need for such a system in China is evident to many. A severe shortage in organs means that fewer than one in a hundred patients who need a transplant here can get one, according to official statistics.

"The practice, of course, is becoming more common in the world and has a history showing it can encourage public organ donations," Deng told China Daily.

"But so far, the public's lack of a clear understanding of the issue and the absence of a good organ-donation system will prevent the practice from being carried out in the country any time soon."

Apart from the Ministry of Health, public security and transportation authorities and other government agencies need to cooperate toward the establishment of such a system, he noted.

"But there is no timetable for that now," he said, adding that much also depends on the public's being able to understand and accept the system.

Opinions on the issue vary.

Song Jingbo, a Beijing resident, told China Daily he would not sign up to be a donor while applying for a driver's license.

"I am not superstitious but it does make me uncomfortable to do that," he said.

Liu Yuqin, a bookseller in Xianyang, Northwest China's Shaanxi province, said she would welcome the introduction of such a system.