Chinese Casanova found out when 17 girlfriends visit him in hospital after car crash

A Chinese Romeo was uncovered when 17 women he was dating came to see him after he was hurt in an accident.

"I was really worried when I heard that he was in hospital," Xiao Li, who was going out with the man identified as Yuan for 18 months,

"But when I started seeing more and more beautiful girls show up, I couldn't cry any more," She told Xiaoxiang Chen Bao paper.

Li said that other women were helping him financially, with one who had been giving him money for nine years. Another of his girlfriends told the paper that she had already started to make arrangements for their wedding.

Another woman has a child with Yuan who is from the city of Changsha, in Hunan province, reported the South China Morning Post. The mother of his child, Wang Fang, said: "We've already had a son together. What can I do now? I don't love him any more, but I do love my son."

More than 6,000 comments were posted on Chinese social media, with some condemning Yuan's complicated love life and others blaming the women, saying they should have known something was wrong.

One commentator noted: "A liar always acts perfectly. The only thing he paid them were compliments, which are all that women wanting a perfect life will need. So as a consequence, they were cheated on."

While Yuan's romantic exploits are not illegal, police have now started to investigate him on allegations of fraud.