Xu Yi, a 9-year-old boy in Chongqing, has sparked a heated public debate by joining the local writers' association, says an article in Jiefang Daily. Excerpts:

Some people cannot believe that Xu started writing at the tender age of 6, had his first poetry collection released at 8 and has already published more than 100,000 words of poetry, fairy tales and novels.

But Xu is not the first of his kind. Some years ago, a 9-year-old boy, Yang Yang, was labeled China's Harry Potter after authoring Time Mirror and another 9-year-old, Zhao Li, was hailed for her 80,000-word book.

Such rare talents deserve to be encouraged by society and none can do that better than a writers' association.

But at the same time, people should know that Xu's is a special case and that they should not force their children to work hard to follow in his footsteps. In fact, many parents have set literary goals for their children after Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Such people should realize that they cannot transform their children into writers or poets if they don't have the talent.

(China Daily 01/10/2013 page9)