BEIJING:Entrepeneurs, start your computers: the next tiger economy may be virtual. Hot on the heels of well-known virtual world Second Life, which has a buoyant economy, currency (the Linden dollar) pegged to the US dollar, and a daily turnover of about $600,000 (€449,000), comes news of a Swedish/Chinese creation, Entropia Universe, to be capable of hosting an online population of seven million. Karlin Lillingtonreports

Entropia, created by Swedish gaming company MindArk, already has 500,000 members who, as in Second Life, move around the world as 3D animations. Entropia is considered one of the more promising rivals to Second Life, and has experienced a similar migration of companies. Recently, it sold four licences to real-world banks for $400,000 each.

Chinese online games company Cyber Recreation Development Corporation (CRD), which is partly supported by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, spent a year seeking a partner for this project, which will vastly increase the size and ambitions of Entropia.

Already, Entropians can inhabit either of two continents on a planet called Calypso, where they use the PED (Project Entropia Dollar), linked to the dollar with a value guaranteed by MindArk. Investors and businesses will be able to create new planets for what is assumed will be a burgeoning population. The joint venture also claims that the virtual world could generate a $1 billion economy and 10,000 jobs.