BEIJING - Chinese celebrity couple Fan Bingbing and Li Chen announced their engagement on her 36th birthday on Saturday.

Actor Li, 38, proposed to the A-list actress at her birthday party and she was moved to tears, said NetEase website.

Past 1am, he posted on Weibo a photo of that moment - when he got down on one knee in front of her - and other pictures of the party with the caption: "Us, forever…"

She reposted his post, adding: "Forever and ever."

Just for the occasion, Li also convinced Canadian artist Marina Bychkova to create a princess bride doll in Fan's likeness, said NetEase. Bychkova does not usually customise her dolls, but Li emailed her for nearly four months, sending her photos and videos of Fan and sharing the couple's love story, before the artist agreed to take on the one-year project.

The actors made their social media debut as a couple in 2015, after filming the 2014 drama The Empress Of China together. Fan produced and starred in the show as empress Wu Zetian and Li played Wu's childhood sweetheart, general Li Mu.

When the couple appeared on the talk show Day Day Up in July, Fan disclosed that Li had not wooed her. Instead, she had to chase him and ask him out on their first date.