A two-year-old Chinese girl survived a fall from a 10th-floor window thanks to a passer-by who raced to catch the toddler, state media reported Sunday.

Wu Juping, 31 -- herself the mother of a seven-month-old baby -- was feted as a heroine on Chinese television, which showed her in a hospital bed recovering from a broken arm after Saturday's accident.

The child, named "Niu Niu", suffered internal bleeding and remains in a critical condition.

She had been left at home alone when the accident took place, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Seeing the child dangling from the window and about to fall, Wu kicked off her high-heeled shoes and ran towards her with her arms outstretched, Xinhua said.

Niu Niu struck Wu's left arm before falling onto the lawn, while Wu passed out from the force of the blow.

The accident took place near Hangzhou, capital of the eastern province of Zhejiang.

Jin Dengfeng, director of a hospital in Fuyang city which offered to treat Wu free of charge when it heard of her actions, said the woman had risked her life by breaking the child's fall.

"She could have died or been paralysed for life if the child had hit her head or her back," he said.

Wu said that because of her injury she would be forced to stop breast-feeding her infant son earlier than planned.

"I don't regret anything that happened," she was quoted as saying.

"I just hope that Niu Niu will recover."

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