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BACKGROUND: In 2001, the blood collection agencies of Zhejiang Province adopted a unified information system, but when a blood product was transferred from the collection and processing facility inventory to some other inventories, because of lacking the unique identifying ability between facilities, the numbers might be overlapped. The exchange of blood units between agencies needed change of labels, and it was very complicated. The SARS outbreak in 2003 made this problem more prominent. Therefore, we decided to redevelop a new information system based on ISBT 128 to solve this problem. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We registered with ICCBBA and obtained the technical documentation and database. We requested the new product description code from ICCBBA and properly adjusted the incompatibility between ISBT 128 and the national standards. We redesigned the information system and labels and validated some related equipment and the laboratory information system. RESULTS: In May 2005, we completed the development of the new information system based on ISBT 128, and by the end of 2005, all the blood collection agencies of the Zhejiang Province began to use ISBT 128. As a result, the product information in blood collection agencies of Zhejiang Province can be shared, and the exchange of blood products between agencies became safe and rapid. It was highly praised by the nation's Ministry of Health. CONCLUSIONS: ISBT 128 was successfully implemented in Zhejiang Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]