Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attracted thousands of Internet users on Monday by opening an account on one of China's most popular social media platforms ahead of a visit to the country this month.

Using the Twitter-like weibo.com, Modi posted at 12.28 pm, "Hello China! Looking forward to interacting with Chinese friends through Weibo."

The post was immediately forwarded more than 4,700 times and attracted more than 7,800 comments within three hours.