ORDOS: Miss China, a 23-year-old music lover who wants to work with the poor, was crowned Miss World 2012 at a ceremony in Inner Mongolia.

Wearing a sparkling blue gown, Yu Wenxia waved to the audience in the Dongsheng Stadium in Ordos, located in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Organizers said Yu beat out 115 contestants, a record, in the highly publicized annual international beauty pageant.

China also won the Miss World title in 2007, when model Zhang Zilin took the crown.

"I love to smile and I like music," Yu said in a video posted on the pageant's website, in which she talks about her study of Chinese folk music.

Sophie Moulds, a 19-year-old business student from Wales, took second place. Jessica Kahawaty, 23, a law student from Australia, was third. AGENCIES