The Ministry of Health is investigating organ transplants performed on 17 Japanese in China, vowing to punish the doctors and medical institutions responsible, an official said yesterday.

In a statement on the ministry's website, Deputy Minister Huang Jiefu said the country had banned the trade of human organs since May 2007.

China prohibits transplants for foreigners, because there is an organ shortage in the country. There are only about 10,000 donors for the more than 1 million Chinese who need transplants annually, Huang added.