A Dutch man has made headlines in China after flying to the country to meet a woman he met online and refusing to leave the airport after she did not turn up for 10 days, before ending up in hospital.

According to CCTV news, Alexander Pieter Cirk, 41, met a Chinese woman known only as Zhang and began messaging her for about two months.

The pair got on so well, Cirk decided to fly to Changsha in central China’s Hunan Province to meet Zhang, but when she did not arrive he refused to leave the airport.

Cirk became frail while waiting at Changsha airport for 10 days. Credit: CCTV/Facebook

Cirk, who is reportedly a diabetic, tried contacting the woman but was eventually admitted to hospital with physical exhaustion.

His story was featured on a Hunan TV station and they managed to get in touch with Zhang. She said Cirk's arrival had caught her off guard and she thought it was "a joke".

She added: "We had advanced our romantic relationship but later he seemed a little callous toward me.

"One day he sent me a photo of air tickets abruptly, and I thought it was a joke. He didn’t contact me later."

Cirk travelled to China from Holland to meet his online girlfriend. Credit: CCTV/Facebook

Zhang said she did not get Cirk's messages from the airport because she had switched off her phone and had travelled to another city for plastic surgery.

The story has attracted several comments from social media users expressing admiration and pity for the love struck Dutch man.

Some people were sympathetic to Alexander Cirk on Facebook. Credit: CCTV/Facebook

Zhang said that she would like to meet Cirk when he is feeling better and is still interested in maintaining their relationship but it's understood that he flew back to the Netherlands on Monday.