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Yundi Li was arrested according to the police (archive image)
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imaginechina / IMAGO
Chinese star pianist Yundi Li has been arrested on charges of illegal prostitution.
Beijing police said they had started an investigation against a man and a woman.
The suspect's name was not published in full, but was given as "Li di".
It is common in China for the first letters of a suspect's surname in police reports to be deleted for anonymization.
However, the police posted another message that showed a keyboard.
The BBC reported, with reference to the police, that the 39-year-old suspect and the 29-year-old suspected prostitute had confessed to the crime.
The police had tracked them down through information from the population.
Yundi Li also studied in Germany
The Chinese Musicians' Association announced that Yundi Li - also known as the "piano prince" in China - would be expelled from the organization due to the police report.
39-year-old Li began playing the piano as a young child.
In 2000, at the age of 18, he won the prestigious Chopin International Piano Competition, making him the youngest winner in history.
He is now one of the most famous artists in China.
Yundi had also studied music in Germany.
ptz / AP
