Houses built on sand burn Chinese investors

SHANGHAI: When Wenzhou entrepreneur Hu Bin became the first Chinese investor in Dubai's World Islands project in 2007 and bought the 30,000 sq m "Shanghai Island", he was regarded by his hometown media as the nation's hero. However, two years later, his investment is being scoffed at as a loser's bet as work has come to a halt.

Dubai, a desert city built on a construction boom funded by billions of oil dollars, is now stuck in a financial crisis. And Hu's Shanghai Island project isn't showing any signs of work resuming. But Hu insisted that his investment in the petroleum-rich emirate was right. "I'm quite well and I still expect a rosy outlook in Dubai investment," he said.

Formerly employed by China Construction Bank at a Wenzhou branch, Hu built a broad personal network in the banking arena that helped him open a business in the early 90s to provide a private financing service. He later shifted his focus to property development, founding Zhongzhou International Group Co in Shanghai in 1998.