Beijing - China's first face transplant patient, who was the world's second person to undergo such surgery, has died in the south- western province of Yunnan, local media said on Sunday.

The death of Li Guoxing, 32, was apparently unrelated to his surgery, reported the Chuncheng Wanbao (Spring City Evening News), based in the provincial capital of Kunming.

The cause and date of death remained unclear, but there was speculation that his death could be linked to his reported refusal to continue taking drugs to suppress his immune system.

A surgical team at the Xijing military hospital in the north- western city of Xi'an had replaced two-thirds of Li's face in early 2006, saying their procedures were even more complex than the first face transplant in France in November 2005.

Li, from a rural area of Yunnan, had lived as a recluse since his "horrific disfigurement" following an attack by a bear in 2004.

The surgical team gave Li a new cheek, upper lip, nose and eyebrow from a single male donor, in an operation that lasted 14 hours.

The hospital performed the surgery free of charge, state media said.

US doctors last week said they had carried out the first near- complete facial transplant on a woman in Cleveland. (dpa)