An advertisement for Renmin University of China appeared on billboards in New York's Times Square from Aug 30 to Sept 3 in a move by alumni to improve the university's international presence.

Photos of the advertisement taken by an alumnus of the university and posted on Sina Weibo were reposted thousands of times and went viral on the Internet.

The advertisement was hosted free of charge by one of the university's alumni whose company brokers the use of the billboards and the university did not pay for it, the alumni association said on its micro blog.

The university's alumni association followed a similar practice by the State Council's Information Office in January 2011 when a one-minute looped commercial was aired on billboards in Times Square to promote China's image to Americans.