Primary school students laugh at a classmate after he arrived at school with frost-covered hair in Southwest China's Yunnan Province on Monday. Photo: IC

A local government used public donations to a boy made famous for his online photo showing frosty hair and eyebrows to support local schools in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, media reported on Tuesday.

The Education Bureau at Ludian said on Tuesday donations totaling 300,000 yuan ($ 46,602 ) will be shared with other children who face similar problems like Wang Fuman, a boy known as the "frosty boy."  He said the donations were not meant for the boy alone.

"Giving the 300,000 yuan to the boy should not be the real purpose of donations. So we hope the donations would benefit children living in the region," said Chen Furong, director of the Education Bureau of Ludian, China News Service reported.

Eight-year-old Wang walked 4.5 kilometers to school from home at -9 C in the morning, leading to his hair being covered in frost. His photo has gone viral since and has raised public awareness.

Chen's response comes after net users suspected the boy only received 500 yuan out of the donation. Chen did not directly admit Wang only get 500 yuan.

Chen added that the local government would give financial assistance to 85 left-behind children suffering from extreme poverty, and distribute warm clothes to more than 1,300 students from seven local schools, and provide heating stoves to 45 local schools before Saturday.

The Ludian county is located in Zhaotong city, where 87.9 percent of the terrain is mountainous.