Brown invited the United striker to Downing Street for the Annual UK-China Summit, which aims to boost political, business, cultural and sporting links between the two nations.

Mr Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband chatted to Dong and around 20 other prominent members of the Chinese community in Britain, including Charlton Athletic midfielder Zheng Zhi, businessmen, writers, editors, actors, and students.

Dong said: "I talked with Mr Brown for about five or 10 minutes. He asked me about my experience here, the Chinese Olympic team and football in China generally, and wished me good luck for the future."