A Chinese barbecue stall owner paused his business to donate stem cells to a three-year-old toddler and was rewarded by long queues of customers.

Shao Sanhu, 33, from central China’s Anhui province, put his barbecue stall on hold for 13 days to carry out the Good Samaritan deed.

He put a notice on the tarpaulin that covered his stall on April 18, saying that the business was on hold for a week because of a “family matter”.

He also posted on his social media account, indicating that he was going to donate his stem cells to a “baby that he has never met before.”

Shao’s stall had only been open for a month. He had to give away ingredients he had prepared and would lose about 20,000 yuan (US$3,000) in rent and staff salaries.