At least 150 pre-fabricated skyscrapers from Central Station to Strathfield, conveyor belts shuttling building materials above Ultimo, train lines ripped up for new ones underground, and much of the steel and concrete shipped from China, with an army of international workers assembling it all for a pittance.

The novel project could have been Sydney's had the O'Farrell government been just a bit more expansive in its thinking.

This is the message from the former federal Liberal MP Ross Cameron, who for two years has been trying to drum up support for a $100 billion proposal to remake much of Sydney with finance, labour and prefabricated steel and concrete from China.

Mr Cameron, a former Macquarie banker, says he met high-ranking Beijing officials to work on the plan. He has canvassed it with federal and state MPs, including Opposition Leader Tony Abbott who, Mr Cameron says, found it ''clearly attractive''.

And he has met the state's top transport bureaucrat who, according to Mr Cameron, loves the idea. But the government has rejected the proposal and will proceed with the $13 billion WestConnex project that will require significant taxpayer funding.