The Shenzhen Blood Center (SZBC) is suffering from a sharp drop in blood donations after a salary revelation caused controversy.

Donations dropped from the usual 250 to 160 on Wednesday, after the issue was exposed. The number fell even further to only 121 on Thursday. Hospitals in the area are consequently running out of clinical blood required for operations.

"In order to meet demand, we need about 250 to 300 people to donate blood every day, or 500 donations including those from stations in Longgang and Bao'an districts," said Lu Liang, vice director of SZBC.

Shenzhen's Second People's Hospital (SPH) has the largest demand for clinical blood in the city and is running out.

"I've been on the phone all day with the blood center and front line doctors. They were forced to delay three elective operations today," said Shao Chaopeng, head of the blood transfusion department in SPH.

In the pediatrics department, nearly half of young patients were affected by the shortage of blood, according to department head Chen Guangfu.

"How can my child survive without blood?" said a mother whose child suffers from thalassemia, a blood disorder requiring regular transfusions.

It was reported on Wednesday that the average annual income of SZBC employees is 196,800 yuan ($31,704), twice as much as the average income in the city of Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong province.

Lu explained that the high salaries were due to 41 of SZBC's 91 registered employees having senior titles, while another 30 possess associate equivalents.