China is steadfastly refuting claims from a Chinese doctor Thursday who says he was told to remove organs from executed prisoners, including some from people still alive, so the Chinese government could sell them for profit.

Doctor Wang Guoqi, who has been living in the United States for the past year while he seeks asylum, told the House of Representatives subcommittee on human rights Wednesday that he and other Chinese doctors routinely harvested organs from prisoners to be used in foreign transplant patients.

Wang said the Chinese government developed official procedures for extracting the organs immediately after executions.

The surgeon said he routinely spent 10 to 20 minutes slicing the skin from executed prisoners after cutting the ropes from their bound hands and removing their clothes. He said he personally removed skin and corneas from more than 100 executed prisoners. In some cases, organs were removed before the inmate's heart stopped beating, he said.

Wang told U.S. officials he became disgusted by the practice in October 1995 after being ordered to remove portions of an inmate's skin while he was still alive.

It is with deep regret and remorse for my actions that I stand here today testifying against the practices of organ and tissue sales from death row prisoners, Wang said.

However, Chinese officials Thursday called Wang's testimony lies and said Wang made up the claims for his own personal gain.

Any clear-sighted person can see that this is a vicious slander against China by very peculiar individuals, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhang Qiyue told a news conference.

Some people will churn out sensational lies denigrating China to achieve their personal goals, she said.

It is China's policy to strictly forbid any sales of human organs. The main sources of human organ transplants in China are the willing donations of citizens during their lifetime.

U.S. House Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who's heading the panel, said Congress cannot allow this horrific situation to go unchallenged.