A five-year-old boy known as "Little Stone" has become a livestreaming star with over one million views – thanks to the way he resembles Buddha, Jilin Daily reports.

Little Stone was born in Changchun, the capital of Northeast China's Jilin province. When he was 14 months old, he was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a condition caused by kidney damage.

In an effort to cover his mounting medical bills, Little Stone's parents spent their savings of 300,000 yuan ($43,195) and sold their house.

The medicine that Little Stone was prescribed affected his hormones, leading him to grow to 35kg. Some say that Little Stone has now taken the appearance of a sitting Buddha.

Unable to attend kindergarten like other children his age due to fears of infection, Little Stone was left lonely at home, playing with toys by himself. He seldom spoke or laughed.

But in 2017 his parents posted some video clips of him eating dinner, which caught people's attention. Seeing the online reaction, Little Stone felt that he had made friends and he decided to start livestreaming.

Now his videos have hit one million views each and Little Stone can start earning money from them.

Although his condition has impoved, his medicine costs approximately 7,000 yuan per month, which places a strain on his family's finances. So Little Stone wants to help.

"If I can earn money by livestreaming, I can share my parents' burden," he said.