This is the moment a Chinese man lowers a crab to a ledge to retrieve a fallen item of clothing as if it is a real-life ‘claw machine’.

The video was filmed in the city of Shaoxing in the Chinese province of Zhejiang and the footage has been widely shared on the Chinese social network Douyin.

According to local reports, the man, name not disclosed, was hanging his clothes to dry when a favourite item fell to the lower ledge.

In order to retrieve the fallen item, the man decided to use a crab he had just bought as a real-life ‘claw machine’.

He tied the crab with rope and lowered it to the ledge where it gripped the clothing item and kept hold of it until he lifted it back up.

In the footage, the crab is seen being lowered from the man’s balcony by rope as a blacktop lies on a ledge further down.

When the spinning crab reaches the ledge, the man directs it towards his clothes and it latches on straight away.

The man then raises the crab to his balcony and successfully retrieves the item as the cameraperson gives him the thumbs up.

It is unclear if the man celebrated by boiling and eating the crab afterwards or whether he released it out of gratitude.