A 2.55-metre (8 foot 4 inch) Chinese man who is among the world's tallest living people has been hospitalised for a hip replacement, reports said Monday.

Wang Fengjun has been measured as 29 centimetres taller than China's towering former NBA basketball player Yao Ming.

According to the Zhengzhou Evening, a paper in his home province of Henan, Wang's hands are 30 centimetres long and he wears specially made size-75 shoes.

Chinese media widely describe him as Asia's tallest man.

Wang, 37, developed gigantism due to a tumour on his pituitary gland. He has been suffering from osteonecrosis of the hips and was offered free treatment by a Henan hospital.

China's Yao Defen was the world's tallest woman at 2.34 metres when she died last year aged 40.