A real estate agency in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has sparked heated debate among Chinese netizens after displaying house plans on the backs of female models at a promotional event. Photo: Sina Weibo

 A real estate agency in Xi'an, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, has sparked heated debate among Chinese netizens after displaying house plans on the backs of female models at a promotional event. The local management committee said that the sales office for this property has been shut down.

A video from the sales event site shows two models with different house drawings on their bare backs, prompting many people to crowd round and take pictures.

On China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, outraged netizens found the idea offensive to women, and that real estate agencies should not adopt such vulgar measures to attract attention.

An official from the local management committee said they had interviewed the person in charge of the project, and the sales office has been shut down. The local market supervision department and housing construction department are conducting further investigations and have not yet determined the nature of these marketing activities.

The developer of this property told local media that they are actively cooperating with the authorities' investigation and waiting for the results to be announced. But when asked why such marketing techniques were used, the staff declined to comment.

Global Times