Devinda Kongahage, executive director from Sri Lanka, joins the production team of the forthcoming TV series You Are Always With Me. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Ma, the 1990-born actor who shot to fame in the fantasy TV series The Journey of Flower (2014), plays a fashion designer who lost his vision due to a hereditary corneal disease.

The drama will be shot in locations as diverse as Shenzhen, Hong Kong and several Sri Lanka cities, including Colombo and Kandy. Sirisena met the Chinese crew in May.

"We did a great deal of research. I met and talked with many oculists and eye specialists. They told me many emotional stories and showed me how they repaired the donated corneas and the procedures involved in performing transplant surgery," says series director Cui Yali, adding that some of the true stories became the inspiration behind some of their storylines.

The drama begins with a cornea donation from a pop star that helped to restore the sight of two patients. The story is based on the life of late singer Yao Beina, who died from breast cancer in 2015 at the age of 33.