Hong Kong director Gordon Chan, 60, and wife, actress Jelly Xia, 29, welcome baby daughter

Hong Kong director Gordon Chan is a father again - at the age of 60.

He married Chinese actress Jelly Xia in June last year after admitting in May 2018 that he was dating the now 29-year-old actress when they were spotted together by the media.

There were rumours after their marriage that Xia was pregnant, but Chan neither confirmed nor denied the rumours at that time.

On Thursday (Jan 16), which was also Chan's birthday, he posted on Weibo a photo of a baby who was sound asleep and wrote, "Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. Pardon me for not being able to thank everyone individually. I would like to announce that my little daughter was born a few days ago."

It was re-posted by Xia about two hours later and she added, "Happy birthday, daddy. You are so happy to have a little lover."

Chan, who won Best Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards for Beast Cops (1998) and is famous for directing movies such as The Final Option (1994) and The Yuppie Fantasia (1989), got to know Xia when he was directing the Chinese movie Mural (2011).

The relatively unknown actress later also acted in The Four movie trilogy (2012 to 2014), which was directed by him.

Chan was previously married to former actress Vindy Chan, 52, from 1994 to 1997. He got to know her when he directed the movie Brief Encounter In Shinjuku (1990). They have two children.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.