Hong Kong pop star Anita Mui, well known in Chinese communities the world over, died on Tuesday less than four months after revealing that she had cervical cancer. She was 40.

Mui died early in the morning as friends, including film star Jackie Chan, kept vigil at the hospital where she was being treated, local media reported.

Mui shot to stardom after winning a singing contest in 1982. She revealed in September that she had recently been diagnosed with cervical cancer and was undergoing treatment.

She continued to work, but her condition recently deteriorated.

(Agencies via China Daily December 30, 2003)