Giant Mao statue appears in China’s countryside

A 37-metre-high gold-painted statue of Chairman Mao has been built in China's countryside.

The giant homage to the communist leader was paid for by local businessmen, who spent nearly 3 million yuan ($460,000; £313,000), reports say.

Some villagers also contributed money to the project said The People's Daily.

The statue dwarfs everything but the huge crane being used to build it. Photo: Reuters

The gold-coloured giant sits in farmland in Tongxu county, Henan Province, central China.

The province was the centre of a famine in the 1950s resulting from Mao's policies, and which killed millions of people.

Some have criticised the statue online, for the perceived waste and what they see as the statue's insensitive location. But many others have leapt to its defence.

A spare giant Mao head sits on the ground near the main statue. Photo: Reuters

Despite being responsible for so many deaths, Mao Zedong is revered by many in China, not least by President Xi Jinping, who praises him as a "great figure".

President Xi has also attempted to centralise power in China's presidency, and has used Mao's legacy to build support, while admitting the former leader made "mistakes".