Divorced actress Yao outdoes Oprah

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Actress Yao Chen on Friday became the first Chinese micro-blogger to have more than 5 million followers, even more than US mega-celebrity Oprah Winfrey - underlining the rapid growth of the platform in China.

Yao Chen (R) and her ex husband Ling Xiaosu [File photo]

Yao, a popular television actress, is the most-followed person on the micro-blogging service of Chinese portal sina.com.cn, which claims more than 50 million users.

On Friday the number of people following Yao's musings on life and celebrity ticked past 5 million, prompting sina to issue a statement declaring her the "queen of the micro blog."

Earlier in the week, she passed Winfrey's number of Twitter followers. The US talk show diva had 4,953,914 followers as of Friday, according to Twitter.

Yao, 31, passed 5 million on Friday afternoon and just three hours later had added 10,000.

Sadly, Yao's achievement comes with the break-up with her husband. They issued a statement on sina.com.cn Friday to announce the end of their seven-year marriage.

The two, who were classmates at the Beijing Film Academy, said their marriage is their most cherished memory.

They also asked for privacy, with the statement to be their only public comment on the matter.