Purifiers provide breath of fresh air

What do you do to battle unhealthy air? Many Chinese consumers are racing to equip their homes with a high-end purification systems that can cost upwards of $2,000. Demand for these devices is soaring in China, according to American entrepreneur Peter Mann - and he smells opportunity.

Mann's Texas-based startup Oransi LLC is one of the latest foreign brands aiming to grab a slice of China's fast-growing air purifier market. The company said it shipped the first batch of 500 air purifiers to China earlier this year and they "sold out in just a few days".

The market in China is at least 20 times bigger than the US market, said Mann, who is Oransi's founder and chief executive officer.