Bottled AIR: Chinese multimillionaire sells EIGHT MILLION 80-cent cans of fresh air in TEN DAYS as pollution levels climb to record highs

escape the smog.

Cans of fresh air are up for sale in China as a multimillionaire looks to capitalize on the country's foulest fortnight for air pollution in memory.



Chen Guangbiao, who made his fortune in the recycling business and is a high-profile philanthropist, is selling soda pop-sized cans of air, purportedly from far-flung, pristine regions of China such as Xinjiang in the northwest to Taiwan, the southeast coast. He says 10 million cans have sold in the last 10 days as pollution levels climb to record highs.



'I want to tell mayors, county chiefs and heads of big companies: don't just chase GDP growth, don't chase the biggest profits at the expense of our children and grandchildren and at the cost of sacrificing our ecological environment', Chen said.

Chen Guangbiao presents his company's canned fresh air at Beijing Financial Street on January 30, 2013 in Beijing, China

The cans of fresh air are for sale at 80 cents apiece

China's air quality is closely watched as it fluctuates dramatically from day to day but in recent weeks has registered far into the unhealthy zone.



Air pollution is measured in terms of PM2.5, or particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in diameter, which are absorbed by the lungs and can cause heart and lung disease. The World Health Organisation recommends a daily PM2.5 level of 20 and says that levels greater than 300 are serious health hazards.

Beijing's air quality frequently surges past a level of 500, and on January 12 soared to 755, the highest in memory.



'I go outside, walk for about 20 minutes, and my throat hurts and I feel dizzy', Chen told Reuters in an interview on a busy Beijing sidewalk.

Beijing's air quality frequently surges past a level of 500, and on January 12 soared to 755, the highest in memory.

Guangbiao He concedes that his canned-air effort is tongue in cheek, but says it's a way to awaken people to the importance of environmental protection

He handed out green and orange cans of 'Fresh Air', with a caricature of himself on them saying, 'Chen Guangbiao is a good man'.



'Be a good person, have a good heart, do good things,' reads a message along the bottom of each can.



The 44-year-old entrepreneur, whose wealth is estimated at $740 million according to last year's Hurun Rich List of China's super-wealthy, is an ebullient and tireless self-promoter.



He is something of a celebrity in China, with more than 4 million followers on Sina Weibo, China's most popular Twitter-like microblogging platform.

Sales, which had been moderate, took off after the recent streak of bad air days, with 8 million cans sold in the last 10 days, Chen said

He concedes that his canned-air effort is tongue in cheek, but says it's a way to awaken people to the importance of environmental protection. His campaign is attracting bemusement but also plaudits from the media and from people desperate to escape the smog.



'Beijing's air really needs to improve, so we need a good man like him to appear,' said a 21-year-old resident surnamed Hu. 'It reminds people to use less fuel and do what they can for Beijing's air'.

