His frazzled face, rosy cheeks and icy hair lit up the internet. Now Wang Fuman, the 8-year-old Chinese student known as Frost Boy, is taking on a new role: propaganda star.

Fuman was thrust into the spotlight this month when a teacher at his school in southern China shared a photo showing him covered in frost, the result of a 2.8-mile trek to school on a frigid day. The picture provoked a national conversation about the tens of millions of children who live without adequate food, clothing and shelter in the Chinese countryside.

Now the government is turning Fuman’s story into a rallying cry for a robust, resilient China.