BEIJING -- The Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) helped more than 16,000 seriously ill children over the past year, including financial support for over 7,000 young leukemia patients and more than 5,000 children living with congenital heart disease, it announced at a press briefing on Thursday.

The RCSC also carried out congenital heart disease screening in 12 provincial-level regions across the country, reaching a total of 150,000 children, said Bian Xiao, RCSC vice president.

RCSC branches at all levels have established service teams for voluntary blood donation with over 200,000 members. Meanwhile, the China Marrow Donor Program added 170,000 new donor samples to its database.

Friday will mark the 79th World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.