Ma Long and Xu Xin gave the Chinese men's team the perfect start to the tournament by beating Alexandre Cassin and Emmanuel Lebesson of France 11-4, 11-4, 11-5 in their Group One doubles match, before Fan Zhendong followed suit with an 11-9, 14-12, 11-3 victory over Quentin Rabinot.

Olympic champion Ma then overcame Lebesson 11-5, 11-6, 11-8 in their singles match to seal a 3-0 victory overall.

The eight-times champions then recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory over Sweden in their second tie to conclude an effortless first day.

Second seeds Japan also demonstrated their medal credentials with 3-0 and 3-1 wins over Egypt and hosts England, respectively, in their Group Two games.

After his team's two victories, Tomokazu Harimoto outlined his team’s expectations.

"I am so excited to be part of this tournament," he said

"Particularly with the exciting atmosphere and I hope I can motivate the fans.

"My aim is to fight in every match to help the team as our goal is to win the gold medal."

The Chinese women's team, winners of the last seven ITTF World Team Cup tournaments, also made a flying start to their campaign with a 3-0 win over North Korea in a rematch of the 2015 ITTF World Team Cup Final in Dubai.

Liu Shiwen and reigning Olympic champion Ding Ning recorded an 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9 win over Cha Hyo Sim and Kim Nam Hae in the Group Two doubles match to get the ball rolling before Zhu Yuling defeated Kim Song I 15-13, 13-11, 11-7 to give the Chinese a 2-0 lead.

Ding then returned to the table to seal a 3-0 victory thanks to an 11-8, 12-14, 11-2, 11-5 win over Nam Hae.

China then put in another emphatic performance to dispose of  Brazi, South America's only representative at the tournament, by a 3-0 scoreline, dropping just one game along the way.

There was more disappointment for hosts England in Group Three of the women's competition as they went down to Hong Kong 3-0.

England's head coach Marcus Gustasson was still pleased with his side's efforts.

"We are happy to be playing in the home arena and there is a good atmosphere," he said.

"We played Hong Kong who are number three in the world ranking so it was a very difficult match for us.

"The girls did everything that they could, so I can't be unhappy with that performance, considering the level of opponents."

The event is due to continue tomorrow with the final group stage matches taking place before the quarter-finals are played in the evening.