Pre-contest favourite Miss China won the Miss World 2007 title in her own country, much to the delight of the audience, in front of an estimated two billion viewers around the globe.
Twenty-three-year-old Zhang Zilin was crowned the winner in Sanya, China. Miss Angola came second and Miss Mexico third at the beauty pageant, held on the southern holiday island of Hainan, dubbed China's answer to Hawaii.
Viewers in 200 countries were expected to tune in to watch the show, which saw Miss China take the crown ahead of 105 other contenders.
The audience in the 2,000-capacity Beauty Crown Theatre, specially built for when Sanya first hosted the event in 2003, roared in delight as Zhang was crowned the winner at the end of the two-hour-long contest, which was conducted mainly in English.
The secretary from Beijing was the pre-contest favourite with British bookmakers, along with Miss Dominican Republic.
"There are 1.3 billion people behind me," she said during the interview stage of the contest, referring to China's population.
Zhang earlier told the contest her favourite pastimes were the 100-metre hurdles and the high jump.
The 57th edition of the contest was being held on World AIDS Day as organisers wanted the annual showcase of gloss and glitz, seen by critics as a sexist throwback, to help increase awareness of the fight against HIV/AIDS.
To underline their commitment to AIDS awareness, organisers invited former South African president Nelson Mandela's eldest daughter Maki to serve on the panel of nine judges.
- AFP