Hybrid UCB banks in China – public storage as ethical biocapital

Abstract

In China, under the heading of "private-for-public" banking, hybrid UCB banking has been politically supported by the government and is based on regulation developed since the 1990s. Although hybrid UCB banking was regarded as an 'ethical' alternative to private UCB banking due to its accessibility to 'the people', this study, based on archival research and interviews with bankers, medical professionals, scientists and pregnant women contends that the practice of this ideal needs to be closely scrutinized. Analysing UCB bank networks in China in terms of 'public biovalue' and 'ethical biocapital', we illustrate, first, how the synergy of public and private storage of UCB in hybrid models benefit private storage, and how transparency and oversight may increase donation and the uptake of UCB. Second, we describe the problems associated with this hybrid model. Finally, we show how the biovalue of public storage is used as ethical biocapital to buttress UCB networks.

Hybrid umbilical cord blood banking: literature review

“…In China, public–private integration banks are politically supported by the government. The aim was to cope with funding shortages in an ethically acceptable way [ 45 ]. Despite that, it can be observed that cord blood stocked in private banks exceeds the number of publicly stored units in every bank in China.…”

“…This might be a result of the parents` strong belief that their child’s cord blood could be of personal use in the future. To curb this trend, it has been proposed to define an appropriate ratio of public to private storage for UCB banks [ 45 ].…”