In a poll on Weibo.com, more than 11,700 people said the show should never have used the children as bikini models.
However, 979 people supported the show by agreeing it should introduce some new ideas.
One of the show's organizers, a woman surnamed Liu, told the Chutian Golden Newspaper that they wanted to provide a platform for the child models to "boost their confidence" and the performances were agreed to by all of their parents. Besides the three bikini models, two other girls presented Latin dance, she said.
Liu said that the girls presented the bikini show as part of a child model competition in which the winners could win free trips to Hong Kong and Macau. No money had been paid to the parents.
A woman surnamed Li, mother of one of the models, told the newspaper she sent her daughter to the show to help her gain confidence but now, having seen the reaction, deeply regretted her decision.
"I would never let my daughter read those online comments and I hope she still believed that it was a beautiful show. But I will never send her to such activities again," Li said.
Another of the mothers said she felt upset when reading the online comments as she felt there was nothing wrong in what the children were doing. The country doesn't ban parents from dressing their children in bikinis, she said.
Modelling was a perfectly healthy activity, she said, and suggested that netizens had "got the wrong idea."
However, some experts quoted by the newspaper said such performances could have a negative effect on the children by teaching them they could make money by exposing themselves.
Landmark building should respect the public's feeling
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