A prominent 74-year-old film producer in China recently celebrated his one-year-old daughter’s birthday, only to face online abuse.

His wife has since taken legal action against the cyberbullies, as their more than 30-year age gap sparked public debate.

Zhang Jizhong, a renowned Chinese martial arts film mogul, is known for producing Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Water Margin , as well as adapting martial arts novels by Jin Yong.

His wife, Du Xinglin, 43, was previously Zhang’s agent and studied in France.

The couple married in 2017 and have a son and a daughter. They also co-parent a Eurasian boy, reportedly Du’s child from an in vitro fertilisation (IVF) procedure before their marriage.

Last October, Du gave birth to a daughter, nicknamed Little Dragon Pearl.

Recently, Zhang shared a heartfelt video on social media to celebrate his daughter’s first birthday, which garnered more than 200,000 likes.