China's Liu Wen may not yet have the sizzling star power of Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen, but she is leading a bevy of Asian beauties down the world's top catwalks - and onto global billboards.

Liu's compatriot, Shu Pei, is also rising in popularity as one of the faces of Maybelline cosmetics and Gap print ads.

In January, Taiwanese-Canadian actor Godfrey Gao was named the first Asian face of Louis Vuitton, striking a pose in the French house's ads with a sleek checkered messenger bag - the new staple of the upwardly mobile Chinese man.

"Savvier companies are using Asian models to penetrate the China market and try to create an emotional bond with consumers, and to give an aspiration that Chinese can look up to," Shaun Rein, the Shanghai-based managing director of China Market Research Group, told AFP.