With more customers becoming environmentally aware, Chinese inventors have been working hard to find a commercially viable alternative to traditional paints which contain toxic organic chemicals, according to report of China Daily.

Now Wang Shuan, a member of the China Paint Standardization Technical Committee, has come up with a paint that is entirely pollution-free and harmless to humans. It is also resistant to high temperatures and very flexible.

Orders have been pouring in, with contracts worth US$11 million signed recently during a chemical product exhibition in New York.

Adviser to the Science and Technology Research Centre under the State Economic and Trade Commission, Li Yuqiang, said demand for environmentally friendly paint is expected to reach about 2 million tons next year.

Producers in China will also be required to hold a paint safety licence from next year, he said.

China's paint industry has made great progress since the country initiated the opening-up and reform policy in the late 1970s, Li said.

More than 1.6 million tons of paint was produced last year, up from 480,000 tons in 1984.

China has around 4,500 paint producers, but most are small firms that produce traditional paints which are toxic and not water-soluble, he said.

"China still has to import about 200,000 tons of paint every year, especially those that are environmentally friendly," he said.