Civic leaders from Thanet welcomed the president of Chinese electrical giant AIGO Electronics to the island on Saturday.

Feng Jun's company is expected to take warehousing space at the proposed China Gateway Project in Manston.

He was met by council leader Cllr Sandy Ezekiel, chief executive Richard Samuel, Margate Mayor Cllr Brian Sullivan and Manston developer Ken Wills at the Mayor’s parlour in Margate’s old town.

Cllr Ezekiel said the meeting had been very positive and Mr Jun was delighted to have visited the area.

“Mr Jun sees Manston as a hub for Europe, not just for Britain,” said Cllr Ezekiel.

“He also wants to explore tourism opportunities with us as well. Tourism is a major growth market for China.

“We took him on a whistle stop tour of the town, showed him the Thanet Pride event, explaining it was all about celebrating diversity, and he was very impressed. He was absolutely stunned by our main beach, saying it was beautiful.

“Manston is far and away his preferred site for setting up operations in this country.”

Mr Jun was also due to meet with Jim Braithwaite, the head of the South East England Development Agency, during his visit to this country.