New | China slaps largest one-child policy fine, 7.5 million yuan, against director Zhang Yimou

Embattled filmmaker Zhang Yimou is now facing a staggering fine of 7.49 million yuan (HK$ 9.59 million) for violating China's birth-control policies, local authorities said.

Zhang, one of China's most prominent film directors, and his wife Chen Ting “have three children, which is a violation of family planning laws”, the Family Planning Bureau in Wuxi’s Binhu District said on its official Weibo microblog on Thursday afternoon. 

The message said that the bureau had informed the couple that they needed to pay a cash fine, or what it calls "social maintenance fees", of almost 7.49 million yuan, for the violation. This would be the largest fine handed down against any Chinese family since the one-child policy was introduced in the 1970s. 

The bureau said it calculated the figure based on Zhang's and his wife's income in the three years prior to the birth of each of their children, in accordance with the law. The children are aged 12, 9 and 7 respectively. In total, Zhang made more than 3.58 million yuan in those three years while his wife had no income. 

The couple had 30 days to pay the full amount of the fine, or they could ask for an administrative review, or launch a lawsuit challenging the decision. 

In a previous interview with Xinhua News Agency, Zhang and his wife said that they gave birth to three children in the years of 2001, 2004 and 2006 respectively, but didn’t register their marriage until 2011, when they wanted to file household registration for the children.