NANJING Jan. 9 -- Renowned Chinese film director Zhang Yimou will be fined 7.48 million yuan (about 1.23 million U.S. dollars) for violating China's family planning policy, said local authorities in the east of the country on Thursday.

The family planning bureau of Binhu District of Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, on Thursday sent Zhang a letter demanding collection of the "social maintenance fee," according to the district's official account on Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Zhang and his wife Chen Ting were fined after he acknowledged in December that they had parented two sons and a daughter.

Zhang, one of the "fifth generation" of Chinese filmmakers, made his directorial debut in 1987 with Red Sorghum and has won numerous awards worldwide. He was also chief director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games.