This is the moment Chinese firefighters risk their lives to try and rescue two tourists trapped on a navigation light platform as huge waves threaten their lives.

The rescue operation was filmed in the city of Beihai, in the southern Chinese province of Guangxi on the evening of 27th June.

Two foreign tourists, whose nationalities were not revealed, were trapped on the concrete navigation light platform when a storm started and huge waves buffeted the structure they were standing on.

The fire brigade arrived on the scene and one firefighter said he spent over an hour trying to swim to the small platform positioned just off the coast.

But as the video shows, he is relentlessly battered by huge waves and is unable to reach the pair.

The firefighter, name not disclosed, who was secured by a rope, was nevertheless frequently shoved underwater by the huge waves in the initial unsuccessful attempt to reach them.

In the end, he had to return to shore and they had to wait for the tide to go down by which time it was already night.

At around 11pm, the storm had receded enough, and firefighters were able to reach the tourists’ position more easily during a second rescue attempt.

A second clip shot at night time shows the firemen successfully reaching the pair.

The two tourists were uninjured in the incident but treated for exhaustion and hypothermia.