Nearly a week is left for the swearing-in ceremony of United States (US) President-elect Donald Trump, who won handsomely in the November 5 presidential election. 

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As the world awaits Trump to become President Trump, a craftsman's workshop in China is making statues of the 78-year-old Republican which show him sitting in divine contemplation, a report by the news agency AFP on Monday (Jan 13) said.

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Cross-legged with his eyes half-closed in a pose evoking the Buddha, this porcelain version of Trump is the work of designer and sculptor Hong Jinshi.

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Hong originally designed the statues as a joke. 

Statues first went viral in 2021 

The statues first went viral in 2021 on the e-commerce platform Taobao. Depending on their size, the statues are priced between $140 and $2,700. 

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And ahead of Trump's January 20 swearing-in ceremony, the statues have become the talk of the town again. 

Speaking to AFP, Hong, 47, said, "In the days after he won the election, there was a lot of interest." 

"Politicians are normally so boring, while (Trump) is this massive online figure who often says fantastical things," Hong added.

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Despite the renewed interest, Hong no longer sells his Trump statues on Chinese sites after they removed his listings—perhaps, he said, because they were deemed insulting to Buddhists.

Still, orders keep rolling in from tourists who visit Hong's workshop, as well as from friends and acquaintances.

A statue based on Elon Musk

Hong also recently began designing a similarly tongue-in-cheek effigy of another American luminary: Trump backer Elon Musk, who seems set to play a major role in his administration.

The statue casts the billionaire in the style of the Marvel superhero Iron Man, clad in a rippling suit of metal armour.

(With inputs from agencies)