Renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou has had to pay a fine of $1.2 million (Rs 7.5 crore) for violating China’s strict family planning policy by having three children.
The Binhu family planning bureau in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, received the money from Mr. Zhang and his wife Chen Ting, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The money will be turned over to the national treasury, the report said.
Mr. Zhang and Ms Chen were fined after he acknowledged in December that they had two sons and a daughter.
China recently relaxed its longstanding one-child policy by permitting a second child for couples hailing from one-child families.
The fine amount for Mr. Zhang was calculated based on the couple’s income and the cost of social maintenance. Since November 2013, the bureau has sent nine investigation teams to several cities to collect evidence of the pair’s income.
The couple have signed a document authenticating the amount.
