A 14-year-old student in Leshan, Sichuan province, who is 2.21 meters tall, seeks to be recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's tallest male teenager.

Ren Keyu, a junior high school student, lives in an old residential quarter in downtown Leshan and is well-known for his height. He towers head and shoulders above his peers.

Basketball fans say he is only slightly shorter than former Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, who is 2.26 meters tall.

Ren's maternal grandmother, Wu Mei, said Ren was about 1.3 meters tall when he started kindergarten. Doctors suspected he might have a condition called gigantism, but several physical checkups showed his growth hormone levels and pituitary gland were normal, she said.

She thought Ren's height might have something to do with the family's genetic code.

His maternal grandfather is more than 1.9 meters tall and maternal grandmother Wu herself is 1.75 meters tall. Ren's deceased mother was more than 1.9 meters tall. His father, a migrant worker, is more than 1.8 meters tall.

The former Guinness record holder as the tallest male teenager is Kevin Bradford of the United States, who was born in 1998. He was 2.159 meters tall on April 30, 2015. The former Guinness record holder as the tallest female teenager is Rumeysa Gelgi of Turkey, who was born in1997 and measured 2.136 meters tall on March 19, 2014.