Actress Fan graces Elle magazine

Fan Bingbing is the glamorous cover girl on the June issue of Elle's Chinese version.

The cover story, titled 'precious woman', takes the actress as an example for women to "find their own glamour, instead of relying on men."

Fan Bingbing shot to stardom at 17 after her role as a loyal maid in the 1998 hit series 'Princess Returning Pearl'. Over the following decade she was plagued by negative gossips. Initially she defended herself, but has since chosen to keep quiet.

"I want to prove to everyone that persistency leads to success," she says in the interview.

Since then Fan has maintained a steady output on both the small and silver screens. She was named 'Best Actress' at Chinese mainland's Baihua film awards in 2004 and Taiwan's Golden Horse awards in 2007.

The siren launched her own studio in 2007 and produced the hit serial 'Yan Zhi Xue', or 'Rogue Snow'.

The studio's second project, 'The Last Night of Madam Chin', is in post production and will be aired at the end of the year.

The 28-year-old actress, currently shooting the action thriller 'Bodyguards and Assassins', will enjoy big exposure in cinemas this year. Altogether seven films starring Fan are set to be released, a record for a Chinese actress. The releases include 'Shinjuku Incident' and 'Sophie's Revenge'.

"As you grow older, you will feel both life and time are fleeting," she says, "so enjoy your life with full strength."