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A young man is regretting what he called a joke, and one that others just didn't find funny - putting his baby niece up for sale on the Internet.

"I realized I was wrong in doing that. I already said I'm sorry to my sister, and I hope people don't disturb her," the man surnamed Yu, from Zhangshu city of Jiangxi province, told China Daily.

The 25-year-old became a popular target of online discussion in the last few days after someone found he had put an advertisement on taobao.com offering his baby niece for 1 yuan (14 cents). The website is the most popular platform for online shopping in China,

The ad reads: "This is my sister's baby daughter. My sister wants a boy instead. Those who want to adopt can contact me."

But Yu feels he is the one who has been wronged as he only treated it "like a joke" to "help his sister".

Yu said he actually posted the ad six months ago, when his sister came to talk with him after her mother-in-law said a boy would be so much better than a daughter.

"She was very upset and angry. She said she wanted to give this baby away so that she can have a boy instead," Yu said.

Yu said he didn't know his sister was not serious. All he was thinking was that he should do something to alleviate his sister's pressure from her mother-in-law.

A doctor from Anhui province even contacted him about adopting, yet when he told his sister about it, her attitude changed, Yu said.

"She said I was unreasonable to take what she said seriously. She was just angry and sad and didn't really want to give away the girl."

Taobao said it immediately removed the ad once it was discovered as "it's obviously illegal to sell a person".

Yu's advertisement was removed about 10 days after he put it online.

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.