A fisherman from south China's Guangdong Province has been rescued near Hainan after surviving six days floating out at sea.

Du Chengji was rescued on Tuesday and is now being treated at the People's Hospital of Wenchang City, in Hainan. His condition is described as stable.

According to the doctors, Du was severely malnourished and dehydrated as he had been floating on the sea for such a long time.

On Jan. 3, Du and another fisherman boarded a light boat attached to their fishing vessel, YUEDIANBAI-31339, to go fishing.

However the light boat capsized in an ensuing storm and the two men fell over board. They managed to use a trailing rope to tie themselves to the upturned boat but in the early morning of Jan. 7, Du's companion, overcome with exhaustion, slipped into a coma and drowned.

Du clung on and in the early hours of Tuesday morning he drifted towards a passing fishing boat and was able to drag himself aboard by grasping a fishing net.

The fishing boat's owner, Wang Peng, said, "Du's survival was partly due to his strong will to live, and because he is physically strong."

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)