A charity has refunded 17,000 yuan ($2,500) to a man in Jiangsu province whose 8-year-old son "donated" to the organization while playing with his father's cellphone.

The China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation released a statement on WeChat on Sunday saying it acknowledged the transaction was a mistake and had credited the bank account from which the payment was made.

On May 3, the boy in Suqian unwittingly opened the "charity" tab in WeChat and made a payment to a project helping veteran soldiers of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

Liu was originally told by Tencent, the company that owns WeChat, that he would be refunded within a few days, but after more than a week, the money had still not been returned. He called Tencent again and was told the funds had been transferred to the foundation.

The foundation said in its post on Sunday that it informed Liu on May 4 that donations can only be revoked under special circumstances - for example, if the donor is incapacitated, or if a donation was made against their will.

When Liu provided evidence that the donation was an accident, he eventually received a refund. The money was returned on Friday, as shown in a screenshot posted by the foundation on Sunday.