Chinese singer Li Quan surprised everyone when he announced on Weibo last night (Jul 27) that he has become a father for the first time.

The 52-year-old uploaded two pictures — one of a sleeping baby, and another of him striking the same pose as the child.

“The second wave is following [in the footsteps] of the first,” he wrote.

Though his post was scant of information, netizens quickly deduced that this must be Li Quan’s way of announcing that he’d become a father.

The post took everyone by surprise mainly because James was not known to be in a relationship, at least, to the public.

Even Li Quan’s celeb friends, like Chinese singer Ding Wei, appeared to have been kept in the dark, with the singer commenting: “Wow, your skill when it comes to keeping a secret [is amazing], congrats.”

Others also scrambled to figure out more information about Li Quan's bundle of joy, writing that the baby appeared to be less than a month old.

Younger audiences will probably know Li Quan, who made his singing debut in 1995, for his stint on singing competition Singer in 2018, where he competed against singers like Wang Feng, Angela Chang and Jessie J. He has also produced songs for stars like Vicki Zhao, Mavis Fan and Alex To.

He is nominated for Best Mandarin Album and the Best Mandarin Male Singer awards at this year's Golden Melody Awards and the ceremony will take place on August 21.

Although he’s been in showbiz for over 20 years, the singer has always kept his love life under wraps. The only relationship he went public with was when he dated Chinese host Ke Lan. The couple were together for seven years before calling it quits in 2007.

Photos: James Li/Weibo, hc360.com