Hong Kong pop diva Anita Mui, known to Chinese across the globe as the "Asian Madonna", died on Tuesday after a battle with cervical cancer. She was 40.

"She went peacefully and beautifully. Her own last wish was that her fans and reporters could let her go quietly, not to cry and call out her name," action movie star Jackie Chan, a good friend of Mui, told reporters after her death.

"She really loved to be beautiful," he said somberly.

Chan and actress Michelle Yeoh were among friends who had kept vigil overnight at the Hong Kong Sanitorium & Hospital.

Another close friend, fashion designer Eddie Lau, said the singer had died of lung failure caused by her illness.

Often compared to Madonna, Mui drew admiration from fans all over the region with her flamboyant on-stage persona.

"This is really very sad. I am going out to get her latest concert DVD so that I'll always be able to see her past glory," said Evelyn Ip, a 36-year-old Singaporean on a visit to Hong Kong.

"It's such a pity," said one middle-aged woman buying up Mui CDs at a Hong Kong shop. "I feel as though we grew up together."

The singer, whose elder sister died of cervical cancer, revealed in September that she too had the disease and was undergoing chemotherapy. She managed to give several concerts last month, but sometimes appeared breathless on stage.

Mui began her singing career as a little girl, giving shows at an amusement park. She shot to stardom as a teenager after winning a singing contest in 1982.

She starred in more than 40 movies over 20 years. Recently though, on the advice of friends, she declined a starring role in a film by acclaimed Chinese director Zhang Yimou, the South China Morning Post reported.

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