Olympic stars Yao on the top of Forbes China celebrity list

Chinese sports stars have outshone entertainers to top the annual Forbes magazine list of China's most successful celebrities.

Basketballer Yao Ming, superstar centre for the NBA Houston Rockets, topped the list for the sixth consecutive year based on his Olympic performance and lucrative endorsement deals with Visa and McDonald's, Forbes said in its announcement late Wednesday.

Besides leading China's national basketball side to a top eight finish at last year's Beijing Olympics, Yao was the country's flag bearer at the Games.

Liu, a 2004 Olympic gold medalist, has retained his endorsements with Nike and Coca-Cola and recent surgery has kept him in the news, but his star power is waning due to his shocking Olympics failure, Forbes said.