Li Nanxing signs with Vicki Zhao's agency

Li Nanxing and Vicki Zhao have known each other for 10 years after friends introduced them. PHOTO: VICKI ZHAO/WEIBO

Don't be surprised if you spot Li Nanxing in China.

The actor has signed with Chinese actress Vicki Zhao's management agency, which will help him look out for opportunities in China, he told DJ Anna Lim on a 96.3 Hao FM radio show on Tuesday.

Li, 54, and Zhao, 43, have known each other for 10 years after they were introduced by friends.

Li said the actress, who shot to fame after starring in popular television dramas such as My Fair Princess (1998), will visit Singapore in July.

The veteran local actor said he has just wrapped filming for Chinese idol web drama Everyone Wants To Meet You, which was produced by Zhao and directed by Hsu Fu-hsiang.

The drama stars Riley Wang, formerly of Taiwanese boyband Spexial, Chinese actor Zhang Zhehan and Chinese actress Zhang Ruonan. Li plays Zhang Zhehan's father in the show.

He said he was approached by Zhao and he accepted the offer as he felt it was a good role.

Li told Lianhe Wanbao that this was the first time that he had gone to China to film a TV serial since the Mediacorp drama The Journey: A Voyage in 2013.

He added that he is still remembered in China for his roles in Singapore drama serials Paint A Rainbow (1987), A Mother's Love (1989) and The Great Conspiracy (1993).

Li, who is considered the Big Brother of the local entertainment industry, got his big break in On The Fringe (1987), a Channel 8 drama on juvenile delinquents. He is also known for playing Yan Fei in The Unbeatables (1993), The Unbeatables II (1996) and The Unbeatables III (2002), where he was paired with local actress Zoe Tay, the Queen of Caldecott Hill.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 09, 2019, with the headline Li Nanxing signs with Vicki Zhao's agency. Subscribe