China, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia have teamed up to co-produce a movie, giving Asian heritage-themed storytelling and diplomacy a boost through the daring voyages of the widely admired Chinese admiral Zheng He.

A signing ceremony was held at the sidelines of the 29th Hong Kong International Film and TV Market Festival to launch the "Zheng He's Voyages to the West" project.

Representatives Fred Wang, chairman of Salon Films; Dato Kamil Othman, chairman of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia; Ashraf bin Ali, managing director and CEO of Saudi fintech Smart Savings, and Sun Zhiguo, president at Zheng He International Cooperation Organization and the China Zheng He Research Association, were present for the signing.

Zheng He is a 15th-century Chinese explorer and diplomat whose legacy is celebrated around the world for trade and cultural exchanges.

From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He embarked – nearly a century before Christopher Columbus set foot in America – on seven epic voyages and commanded a fleet with about 30,000 sailors, reaching Southeast Asia, the Middle East and even as far as Africa.

Wang revealed he was surprised when Ali from Smart Savings told him his bloodline was connected with Zheng He and because of many "young projects coming out" with AI, technology, and the internet "making the world more closer", they were decided on having the collaboration now.

Ali, the Jeddah-based finance facilitator of the film, said he was invited to join the collaboration during the last Red Sea Film Festival.

"We have a financial fintech application that distributes financing for different industries and this is one of the projects we'd like to contribute and be part of. However, I found out by coincidence there is some, I would say, bloodline between the admiral and my family…which is a bit surprising," claimed Ali.