A Chinese investigative reporter has announced he will return home to Central China's Henan province and pick up his previous career of selling kabobs.

Zhu Changzhen, 45, verified by Sina Weibo as an investigative reporter for the Henan-based Dahe Newspaper, said in a statement that he wants to return to the street-food profession after understanding that "human beings are the most precious things," a message delivered by late Chinese leader Mao Zedong decades ago.

Zhu said his focus would shift to family companionship as well as kabob selling, just like he did before becoming a reporter 15 years ago, when he was a kabob vendor in the city of Pingdingshan in Henan province.

He didn't clarify on whether he will quit his job as an investigative reporter in the statement, but said he will do interviews in emergency situations.