A father in China has sparked controversy for abandoning his young son on a busy highway as punishment for hitting his older brother during a quarrel.

The man came under the spotlight after a motorcycle travel influencer posted a video of the abandoned youngster, who is thought to be seven or eight years old, online.

It showed a young boy standing alone on the side of No. 219 National Highway in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of northwest China.

The stranded boy even tried to hail a lift, the Southern Metropolis News reported.

When the influencer asked the boy why he had become separated from his family, the child said: “My father has gone off by himself.”