A leading Chinese film director was arrested in Beijing on Wednesday on drugs charges, according to a report on Beijing Television.

Police burst into the apartment of Zhang Yuan, one of China's most popular directors and a member of the "six-generation" filmmakers, in the early hours, the program "Enforcing the Law" said.

He was found taking a variety of drugs with four friends and a subsequent urine sample tested positive for ketamine and ice.

Zhang appeared "excited and delirious" and shouted "I don't know who you are and why you're in my apartment" at police officers before he was taken away.

Born in 1963, Zhang Yuan, a talented and independent filmmaker, was named one of the world's top 100 young leaders for the 21st century by Time magazine in 1994.

His recent works include the Berlin Film Festival award-winning Little Red Flowers, and Green Tea, starring famous actors Vicky Zhao and Jiang Wen, who is known as China's Marlon Brando.

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2008)