A LOCAL man will travel to Beijing on Thursday to donate stem cells that might save the life of a 7-year-old British boy suffering from leukemia.

Jiang Yongfeng, 35, will be the 11th person from Shanghai to donate stem cells for an overseas patient and the first to donate to a British citizen. The collection procedure is scheduled to take place next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Under Chinese law, all stem cells donated for use by overseas patients, including those in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, must be collected in Beijing, said Zhang Yi, an official with the Shanghai branch of the Red Cross Society of China, which manages the China Marrow Donor Program.