Hong Kong property tycoon Li Ka-shing is among 50 celebrities who will appear in a state-sponsored image campaign for China expected to be launched overseas next month ahead of National Day on October 1.
Other celebrities in the 30-second advert to be aired on major Western television channels include basketball star Yao Ming, astronaut Yang Liwei, Hong Kong film director John Woo Yu-sum, Olympic gold medalist Guo Jingjing and pianist Lang Lang .
It is extremely rare for Li, who ranks 22nd on the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest people, to appear in a television advertisement.
'We not only want these outstanding Chinese people to show up in the same advertisement, but in the same shot, the official Guangming Daily website quoted Zhu Youguang , the project supervisor, as saying.
'You cannot imagine the impact it will have for the viewers when they see Li Ka-shing, Ma Yun [Alibaba founder], Li Yanhong [Baidu founder] and Ding Lei [NetEase founder] stand shoulder by shoulder in the same shot.'
In addition to the advertisement featuring 50 successful Chinese people, the massive publicity campaign also includes a 15-minute feature film to present the nation's accomplishments in politics, economics, society, culture, science and research, education, the environment and ethnic minority relations.
The advert will be aired on major TV channels including CNN and BBC. The film will be shown in events hosted by Chinese embassies across the world. Both will be in English.