A district in eastern China’s Zhejiang province known as a major hub for online fashion retail has issued a guideline aimed at protecting child models after a woman was caught on camera last month violently kicking her daughter as she modeled an outfit, the local prosecutor announced Thursday.

The Binjiang District authorities in the city Hangzhou has prohibited children under the age of 10 from being employed as clothing models. Child models aged 10 or over, meanwhile, should not be physically or verbally abused and may not work for more than four hours at a time or consecutively for over a week, lest it affect their schooling. The guideline was jointly issued by the district prosecutor, the district market supervision administration, and the local Communist Youth League committee.

The guideline also stipulates that child models should not try on clothing that is “age-inappropriate” or that “violates public order,” nor should they be directed to pose in flirtatious or suggestive ways. Any studios where videos of children are filmed will be subject to regular inspection, the guideline further stated.

This guideline comes one month after a woman was widely censured online for kicking her 3-year-old child during a photo shoot in Hangzhou. The case prompted over 100 kidswear shops on the popular e-commerce site Taobao to jointly call for the industry to be more strictly regulated. (Image: IC)