This is the dramatic moment a man jumps into a rushing water to save a little girl from drowning when she accidentally fell from a weir.

According to witnesses, the little girl was joined by two first-grade elementary schoolmates to play by the river in Huzhou, in eastern China's Zhejiang Province, on September 27.

But she suddenly slipped and fell into the water that quickly dragged her far away from the shore. Then, a brave man noticed she was about to drown and strapped on a lifeline and jumped in after her.

Phone footage shows the unnamed man reaching the little girl and trying to drag her to safety while bystanders on the shore secure the lifebuoy and pull them towards the shore.

As they get closer to shore, the man lets go of the buoy so the rescuers on land can pull her out. But the girl slips out of the floatie and sinks underwater.

The man then hurriedly swims over to her, and grabs hold of the child, trying to keep her afloat while battling the powerful current.

He is then apparently forced to distance himself and the girl from the speeding water and instead circles towards a shallower area.

From there, he is able to maintain his balance and slowly get up and walk over to the shore, where he then hands the girl over to the rescuers on land.

They help pull them both of the water, and one of them places the girl on her back, and then begins performing CPR.

Local media reported that the girl was saved and is currently under observation at a local hospital.