Chinese actress Li Bingbing has said that the foreign man recently spotted escorting her out of a hospital was not her boyfriend, but her English teacher, Sohu.com reports.

Li was diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax earlier while filming for Tsui Hark's martial-arts movie, "Detective Dee" in Hengdian of Zhejiang Province. She was admitted to a nearby hospital on Monday, and was discharged the next day.

Among the entourage that escorted her out of the hospital, a foreign man holding a bouquet was caught by paparazzi. This aroused wide suspicions that Li, like her fellow star Zhang Ziyi, is dating a foreigner.

But Li denied the reports, saying she only hired the man to help improve her spoken English.

Yet, the actress does not need to speak English in "Detective Dee". Media reports say her efforts may best be interpreted as paving the way for her international career, although Li has always downplayed the possibility of going to Hollywood.

Although highly acclaimed domestically, Li only made her Western debut last year in the China-US film "The Forbidden Kingdom".

(CRI July 30, 2009)