Chinese backing sought for flying car and sky city projects

Tidal energy is not the only new technology or outlandish project whose proponents have sought support from investors, the government and the public on the mainland to help bankroll its commercialisation.

Massachusetts-based Terrafugia said it was seeking to raise US$30 million from partners on the mainland to help fund its plan to put its flying car on the streets and in the air by 2016.

Its "Transition" vehicle can be transformed from a car to an aircraft by unfolding its wings within a minute.

It has received some US$30 million in pre-orders for the car priced at US$279,000 each, despite uncertainty over when the mainland will open up its airspace to private jets, which brings substantial risks to would-be investors.

Equally intriguing is a plan by privately controlled air-conditioning systems manufacturer Broad Group, to build what it claims would be the world's tallest building within seven months.

The Changsha, Hunan province-based firm last July broke ground on a planned 838-metre, 202-storey building that will consist of 2,558 apartments of 60 to 90 square metres each. It was supposed to have been completed by April this year and house some 30,000 people.