A woman in eastern China shed 21.5kg in just four months because her best friend told her she would look like the famous actress Yang Mi if she became thinner.

The woman, who uses the alias taozichibubao, shared her slimming experience on social media, winning massive admiration from internet users, the Ningbo Evening News reported.

Living in Zhejiang province, the woman previously weighed 64kg. Having lost 21.5kg last year, she remained at 42.5kg for several months. She is 156cm tall, the report said.

She said she decided to lose weight because her best friend told her: “Be thinner and you will look like Yang Mi.”

Yang, 39, is one of the most popular actresses in the country and has a slender figure.

The internet user @taozichibubao said that before losing weight, her belly looked like a ball and her back was like that of a bear. She also had a double chin.

During the weight-loss process, she insisted on working out and adopted a bland diet.

“I had to quit milk tea. I cried many times when I thought that I could not eat my favourite foods,” she said in one of her videos.