Film director Zhang Yimou pays 7.5 million yuan fine over children
Zhang admits he has two sons and a daughter with his current wife and a daughter with a previous wife
China’s best-known film director Zhang Yimou has paid 7.5 million yuan (HK$9.5million) for violating the one-child policy, officials said on Friday, closing a case that had attracted widespread attention.
Following months of rumours that he had fathered up to seven children with different women, Zhang admitted in December he has two sons and a daughter with his current wife, Chen Ting, all from before they were married. He also has a daughter with a previous wife.
The family-planning law, implemented in the late 1970s in a bid to prevent over-population, restricts most parents to one child.
Critics say the law is enforced unevenly and sometimes aggressively, with wealthy and well-connected families better able to pay fines levied for extra children.
“The Binhu district family planning bureau received through bank transfer Chen Ting and Zhang Yimou’s payment of 7,487,854 yuan,” the district government said through its verified social media account.
The district is part of Chen’s hometown of eastern Wuxi city.
