Maggie Cheung may be a well-loved and much-respected thespian, but her love life has only consisted of dramatic - and very public - break-ups one after the other.

After three years of dating her current beau, German engineer Ole Scheeren, the actress now has to battle rumours of their break-up over a much younger love rival.

Taiwanese media reported that her boyfriend has been seeing a Chinese designer in her 30s (above main picture, right). Jiang Qiong Er is said to have studied in France, launched her own label named Shang Xia in Shang Hai, and is pleasant-looking.

When she was asked if she would be getting married at an event in Hong Kong, Maggie appeared to be embarassed, but said that "not every relationship must end immediately with marriage".

When she was asked about her plans to have children, she said: "I missed many chances to have children. When I could have them, I didn't want to. But when the time came for me to think about it, my other half did not want them. This is fate."

Not long after, Hong Kong media also linked Ole with a younger female colleague in her 20s, and news of their break-up surfaced again.

Ole is also said to have moved out of the upscale Hong Kong apartment that Maggie had rented for the both of them at a sum of HKD 200,000 a month (S$40,000).

Maggie was also said to have lost considerable weight, with reports putting her at a frail 37 kg after the turmoils of her relationship. Her boyfriend was also not seen at her side at a recent Venice movie festival.