A Spanish man was crowned Mister World 2007, while a Chinese competitor finished third at the Mister World Pageant 2007, which concluded on Saturday night in Sanya, Hainan Province.

Chinese competitor for Mister World 2007, Jiang Lejun (front left), holds up his trophy after winning third place at the competition in Sanya, southern China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2007. Juan Garcia Postigo (front center) from Spain and Lucas Gil (front right) from Brazil took home first and second prize respectively.

Juan Garc Postigo from Spain saw off 55 other competitors, with Lucas Gil from Brazil and Jiang Lejun from China rounding out the podium.

Jiang Lejun now adds this award to an already garnished CV. The 28-year-old Shanghai native's portfolio already contains his Mr. China 2006 and Mr. Shanghai 2004 wins. 56 charismatic contestants, each from a different country or region, competed at this year's Mr. World contest, in front of a worldwide television audience of 1.4 billion.

Mr. Pageant 2007, the first of its kind to be held in China, operated under the theme of healthy, handsome, brave, thoughtful and responsible men, commonly thought to be the most desirable characteristics in attracting women, organizers said.

The Mr. World contest was launched in 1996. The last contest was held in London back in 2003 when and Gustavo Cabral Narciso from Brazil became the fourth Mr. World.

Sanya, China's southernmost tropical city, hosted the Miss World pageants from 2003 to 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2007)