Chinese teen actor Zhang Yishan, seen in an undated photo, has been paid one million yuan (US$141,088) to endorse a domestic beverage brand, becoming the first juvenile star to secure such a lucrative deal. [File Photo: zhangyishan.cn]

Chinese teen actor Zhang Yishan has been paid one million yuan (US$141,088) to endorse a domestic beverage brand, becoming the first juvenile star to secure such a lucrative deal.

Fifteen-year-old Zhang, best known as one of the three children in "Jia You Er Nv" ("Home with Kids"), a popular Chinese sitcom similar to "Growing Pains," is the new spokesman for an unnamed drink company based in southeastern Fujian Province, the Huaxi Metropolis News reported on Monday.

When the company first approached the actor in January, the deal was only worth 200,000 yuan. It soared to five times that amount after several other companies, including a foreign one, began showing interest in the young star, the report says.

Zhang, a Beijing native and basketball fanatic, can also be seen in Jonathan Hua Lang Lim's new film, "Slam," about a group of teenage basketball players.

(CRI March 17, 2008)