Rising star ready to shine

Joan Chen, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi - who's the next of their ilk? Most agree 24-year-old Liu Yifei is the likely contender to become an internationally adored Chinese actress.

In 2007, Liu joined William Morris Agency (WMA), the prestigious talent and literary company whose clients have included Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and Katharine Hepburn. She is one of the agency's only two Chinese stars. Zhang Ziyi is the other.

Inevitably, she has been compared with Zhang. Both are pretty women who became famous while young.