Ted Baker chief executive Ray Kelvin has outlined ambitious expansion plans for Asia and China in particular.

Ted Baker has opened four stores in Shanghai, China and a store in Japan over the past year. Figures released this morning showed that in its first half to August 10, the retailer recorded a 78.6% surge in retail sales in Asia.

Kelvin joked that he wanted 17,000 stores in the country but added: “It sounds facetious but actually I could see us having quite a lot [of stores in China]. We could open hundreds of stores in China and concessions in Japan without diluting the brand.

“It is such a big place and there are so many territories.”

Kelvin said Ted Baker would not rush expansion in China but he would see how the current stores trade first. “What we have there now is very new. It’s immature,” he said. “But there is no doubt about it, the Chinese really like what we are doing.”

Kelvin added that Ted Baker was trading “exceptionally well” in the Middle East.

The brand, which is steadily growing store numbers across the world, opened in six new overseas markets in the period, including Indonesia, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Ted Baker is also set to relaunch its UK website this month as it plans to open overseas ecommerce sites. Kelvin added: “This will give us the strength to take the website around the world.”

Ted Baker this morning revealed a pre-tax profit jump of 45.3% to £11.6m.