They continued to find more donors and in turn convince them to become brokers. As business expanded, the pair rented apartments in Beijing and Hebei Province to accommodate some 20 would-be donors they found through online forums and instant messaging services.

One donor, named Li Guogang, agreed to sell part of his liver to a patient in a hospital in Tianjin City in January 2009. The recipient paid them 200,000 yuan.

Liu and Dong also found a donor prepared to give his kidney to a patient in central China's Hunan Province in April 2009. They received 118,000 yuan for this deal.

The pair pleaded guilty at court.

China banned the sale of human organs in 2007. However, demand is huge, leading to a lucrative black market.

A Ministry of Health report last year showed some 1.5 million patients are awaiting transplants. Only 1 percent could find a donor.