Chinese doctors performed the first face transplant in China and the second in the world on a man whose face was disfigured in an attack by a bear.

Li Guoxing now has a new nose, cheek, upper lip and eyebrow, according to representatives of Xijing military hospital in the central city of Xi'an. The man had been attacked by a black bear in the southern province of Yunnan 2 years ago. His right eye was almost closed and the cheek and lip had been badly ripped. The scars spread from the left ear to his right ear and around his chin.

The 14 hours operation performed on the hunter involved 12 surgeons working from about 2 p.m. on April 13 until the early morning of the next day. "The patient from rural Yunnan province has survived the most dangerous 24 hours," said Guo Shuzhong, head of the Plastic Surgery Institute at the hospital.

"Up to now, the patient is in good condition. The operation was successful. It is predicted that the patient's wounds can be healed within one week," the hospital said.

After verifying these claims by independent experts, China will become the second country in the world to have conducted a face transplant.

This procedure comes less than 5 months after doctors in Amiens, France, performed the first one, transplanting lips, a chin and a nose. Isabelle Dinoire, a 38-year-old French woman, received the transplant in November, after being disfigured by a dog.