A Chinese couple has decided to name their child @, the distinctive symbol used in email addresses, according to the deputy chief of the Chinese State Language Commission, Li Yuming.

Li said that this was the latest in a growing trend of Chinese parents choosing to give their children bizarre names.

It is not known yet whether authorities have accepted the name. It is the police who must decide, as they are in charge of issuing identity cards.

According to Li, the father of the child said that "the whole world uses '@' to write emails" and that when spoken it sounds like the Mandarin word for "love him".

In China, 179 surnames account for 89 percent of the population.

The Chinese government has banned using foreign languages, symbols not from any Chinese languages or Arabic numerals for names.

Because the Chinese languages use characters instead of letters, linguists often struggle to bring in new terms.