A Chinese businessman has stumped up $24,730 for a MiG-21 fighter punted via eBay, Beijing News reports via AP.

Zhang Cheng will not, however, be taking to the blue yonder in his former Czech military hardware, last flown in 1995 and reported to be in "excellent condition". He told Beijing News: "I like to collect valuable items. I have the buying power and my company has an empty space where I can display the plane."

There is just one possible snag: Zhang is not exactly sure whether the Chinese authorities will let him import the aircraft from its current home in Lewiston, Idaho. He admitted: "There is the precedent of a Chinese company buying a retired aircraft carrier, but I don't know if this jet plane is a banned item."

The aircraft carrier in question is, AP believes, a "Soviet-built Minsk aircraft carrier that a Chinese company bought and converted into a floating theme park in the southern city of Shenzhen".

Zhang's is now awaiting approval for the importation of his executive toy. ®