A
sperm bank in
China is demanding potential donors are good
Communists, as
Beijing's campaign to increase its control over people's lives extends to before they are born.
The Third Hospital of Peking University is asking donors to answer the party's call before they hand over semen in a six-week donation drive launched this week.
Demand for sperm is booming in China since the one-child policy was axed in 2016, but there have been concerns over quality levels.
The Beijing hospital, which is linked to China's most prestigious university, listed a series of requirements for potential donors, including having no serious diseases or "obvious signs of hair loss".
It also said that men between the ages of 20 to 45 who wish to donate must "love the socialist motherland, support the leadership of the Communist Party, be loyal to the party's cause and be decent, law-abiding, and free of political problems."
Chinese media said there are 40 million infertile women and men in China.
The Global Times newspaper said that the "low pass rate of quality sperm" is the main cause of the country's sperm shortage, with the Beijing Times quoting statistics saying the pass percentage in China is 15 to 20 percent.
Those who pass the tests at Peking University will be paid 200 yuan (£210) immediately and another 5,500 yuan when a donation is received.
Calls by The Telegraph to the hospital went unanswered, but a doctor indicated to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post that there were no medical procedure testing Communist credentials.
“It would be fine as long as you consider yourself suitable," the doctor said.