SHANDONG (CHINA DAILY/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - A recent video went viral in China for capturing a dramatic rescue.

It shows a shocking scene in Weifang, east China's Shandong province, of a man saving a boy, who fell from a fifth-floor window, by grabbing him in midair.

With no adult at home, the two-year-old crawled out of the window to the air-conditioning unit and was spotted by neighbours.

Hearing cries and shouts outside, Mr Liu Yangming and his father ran out of their home and found the boy in immediate danger, dangling from the air-conditioning unit beneath the fifth-floor window.

Mr Liu rushed into the building and knocked the door of residents who live downstairs, hoping to enter one of the units to rescue the boy.

Residents of one household on the first floor were home and let Mr Liu and his father in.

Mr Liu then climbed over the window and stood on a narrow cement ledge, ready to catch the boy.

The moment the boy fell, Mr Liu's father, leaned out of the window and attempted to grasp the boy, but failed.

Fortunately, Mr Liu managed to catch one of the boy's legs in time and lifted him up onto the ledge.

People watching the commotion nearby were shocked by the incident, but were relieved when they saw that the boy was safe.

Mr Liu's quick thinking won praise from residents and netizens, after the rescue was recorded by one onlooker's phone and posted online.