A sperm bank in China is demanding potential donors are good Communists, as Beijing's campaign to increase its control over people's lives extends to before they are born.

The Third Hospital of Peking University is asking donors to answer the party's call before they hand over semen in a six-week donation drive launched this week.

Demand for sperm is booming in China since the one-child policy was axed in 2016, but there have been concerns over quality levels.

The Beijing hospital, which is linked to China's most prestigious university, listed a series of requirements for potential donors, including having no serious diseases or "obvious signs of hair loss".

It also said that men between the ages of 20 to 45 who wish to donate must "love the socialist motherland, support the leadership of the Communist Party, be loyal to the party's cause and be decent, law-abiding, and free of political problems."