Fan has overtaken three-time Olympic medallist Timo Boll of Germany at the top of the rankings after winning the Qatar Open title last month, giving him enough points to move to the summit.

After finding out about his new ranking, Fan, who has been world number two since 2015, said: "It is an amazing feeling to become the world number one, it has always been a big dream of mine.

"I hope I can keep this position for a very long time."

Boll, who at 36-years-old became the oldest world number one last month, has been demoted to second position but remains in front of compatriot Dimitrij Ovtcharov, who is third.

World and Olympic champion Ma Long from China, whose ranking fell due to inactivity in 2017, has moved up to sixth after winning gold at the German Open.

Elsewhere, Chen Meng has reclaimed her number one spot from Chinese compatriot Zhu Yuling in the women's world rankings after reaching the semi-finals in Qatar.

Zhu's chances of keeping hold of top spot were damaged after she was knocked out of the tournament in the round-of-32 by eventual winner Liu Shiwen, also from China, who has moved up ten places to tenth in the latest rankings.

Japan's Kasumi Ishikawa remains in third position. 

The upgraded rankings come under the ITTF's newly-developed rankings system, which the organisation claim will "present a more accurate measure and realistic representation of the playing level of athlete's current performance".

The players will now switch their attention to the 2018 World Team Table Tennis Championships, which will be held in Halmstad, Sweden, from April 29 to May 6.