Mother caught beating three-year-old model daughter apologises for 'slightly large movements'

Videos appear to show her kicking and slapping the toddler

The mother of a three-year-old child model has apologised after videos of her appearing to beat her daughter appeared online

The woman appeared to kick and slap the toddler during a photoshoot.

Internet users later identified the child as Niuniu, who models clothing for the Chinese shopping website Taobao.

After the child was identified her mother published a statement apologising for her actions.

In social media posts, she said her "slightly large movements" were not intended to cause harm.

She added that the videos had "caused everyone to misunderstand," for which she felt "deeply sorry."

The videos has sparked a new debate in China about the country’s highly competitive child modelling industry.

The industry has been criticised for being largely unregulated and regularly overworking young people.

Chinese labour laws ban children under the age of 16 from working, except in certain sectors such as sport and performing arts, including modelling.

For children in these industries, there is no clear guideline within the law that limits how many hours they can or should be working.

In 2017, the death of a 14-year-old Russian model in China raised concerns about mistreatment of children in the country's fashion industry.

Vlada Dzyuba suddenly died after working long hours on low pay during a modelling tour in Shanghai.