Mainland actress Fan Bingbing, one of the most famous Chinese actresses, has been recently nominated to be a senior official in the China Western Movie Group, previously known as the Xi'an Movie Group. This move has stirred up widespread discussion among movie fans and the general public.

Chinese mainland actress Fan Bingbing. [sina.com]

The Sichuan-based newspaper the West China Metropolis Daily reported on Thursday that the 26 year old actress will appear in a grand celebration activity in Xi'an city to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the film group. Fan's role will be as deputy director of the movie group's acting troupe, where she will mainly be in charge of training actors.

The information was confirmed by another senior official, Mr Li, also from the film group. Mr Li however denied they had aimed for public hype by taking advantage of the young actress's fame and also denied the actress was eying on image boost through this appointment.

The official further revealed the actress' personal files were being kept in the China Western Movie Group and the decision to appoint her was made after a democratic vote and strict examination of her suitability.

In response, Fan Bingbing said she had just learned about the official nomination on Thursday and still had no idea what would be expected of her although she would strive to work hard for the group.

The giant leap of Fan Bingbing from actress to official stunned many netizens who have voiced quite different opinions online. Some say the "headline of tabloids gossip" is not qualified for such a position. However, other devoted fans support the move saying actress Fan, with her big fame; will greatly help boost the image of the China Western Movie Group.

Actress Fan rose to fame when she played Jin Suo, a fragile maid character, in the popular TV show "Huan Zhu Ge Ge", and its sequel "Huan Zhu Ge Ge 2" in 1998.

The China Western Movie Group, is one of six major film groups, best known for a list of classic movies in the 1980s like "Old Well" and 'Red Sorghum", directed by Zhang Yimou and "Ballad of the Yellow River" by Teng Wenji.

(CRI November 7, 2008)