The draft is expected to be complete in May.

"There's no need for a so-called ovum bank or market in China," said Yu Xiucheng, senior official with the health ministry.

"The cost of fertility treatment using stored eggs is very high, and few people could afford it," Yu said.

"Meanwhile the demand for the service is low, as only three percent of women nationwide are infertile, of which a mere 10 percent are able to reproduce using a donated egg," he said.

In China, the sale of human eggs is discouraged and they are normally obtained only through donation.

The planned regulation is in response to a nationwide controversy over the sale of human eggs in southwest China's universities, the China Youth Daily said.

An unknown person posted a notice in a university in Chongqing earlier this year, seeking to purchase eggs from women on campus for 8,000 yuan (US$967) to 10,000 yuan (US$1,208) each.

Since Chinese hospitals and medical institutions which provide fertility treatment must rely on donated eggs, many infertile couples must secure an egg by themselves, said a doctor surnamed Zhang with the reproduction center of the No. 3 Hospital of Beijing University.

He said many such couples want eggs from university students, who are seen as young and healthy.

It's not necessarily a good idea, he said.

Since most young women at university have not had a child, it's difficult to tell whether they carry hereditary diseases or deformities, the doctor said.

In addition, the pre-treatment currently used to stimulate ovulation in donators is not very technologically advanced, and could harm young donators by disturbing hormonal balance and even precipitating menopause.

For this reason, women who have already had a child may make better candidates, Zhang said.

(eastday.com March 20, 2003)