The family of a newborn baby who last week became the poster child for China’s one-child policy has turned down a number of lucrative advertising contracts for diapers and milk formula, state media said on Monday.
Zhang Yichi was declared China’s 1,3-billionth citizen when he was born to a huge media blitz in a Beijing hospital on Thursday.
Since the birth, which was broadcast on state television, Zhang’s family has been approached by many companies looking to use his image in their ads, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing the Beijing Daily Messenger.
”It’s lucky to be China’s 1,3-billionth citizen,” the boy’s father, Zhang Tong, was quoted as saying. ”But it’s unnecessary to act as image representative for so many products, since Zhang Yichi is too young and too many commercial activities will have a negative impact on the boy’s healthy growth.”
The family did, however, accept some insurance offered to the boy by an insurance company, Xinhua said. It was not immediately clear if the company would use Zhang’s image in its future ad campaigns.
Under China’s one-child policy, which has been in place since the 1970s, couples who have unsanctioned children can faces fines, the loss of jobs and forced sterilisation.
The United States has criticised China’s strict birth controls, saying the regulations encourage forced abortions.
The Chinese government says there would be at least 200-million more Chinese citizens today if it were not for its family-planning policy. — Sapa-AP