[Top image: Gong Rumin, center]

SHE was crowned as China's top supermodel two months ago, but Gong Rumin is now making headlines for the wrong reasons.

Erotic photos of the 2010 World Super Model China contest winner have been leaked and are now making its rounds on the Internet, stirring considerable controversy.

The amateurish-looking shots, amounting to some 600, show the 26-year-old in a variety of poses and outfits, from being clad in lingerie and stilettos to wearing nothing at all.

Online reports claim that the pictures were taken in Japan and Taiwan a few years back, before she became famous in mainland China.

Gong, a native from Qingdao, Shandong, embarked on her modeling career in 1999, making several magazine covers. She also earned a runner-up spot in an automotive modelling contest at the 2009 International Auto Show held in China.

On Dec 12, Gong was named the winner of the World Super Model Contest 2010 China in a finals held in the country's Heibei province. She beat some 3,000 other participants in the four-month long contest which started in August.