A major new project that will enable thousands of people to operate from within their own homes is being developed in China, it has emerged.

Online entertainment experts at the Cyber Recreation Development company have chosen the Entopia Universe to become the first "virtual world" in China and the online environment will come complete with a real money economy and aims to create close to 10,000 new jobs.

The virtual world allows more than seven million users to log on at any one time, creating a three-dimensional universe that is expected to generate around £500 million in real world commerce annually.

"People will actually be able to work from home inside Entropia Universe, as many people do today, even from rural areas, thereby decreasing the amount of pollution generated by travel," said David Liu, the chief executive of Cyber Recreation Development.

Work Wise UK chief executive Phil Flaxton suggests that an increased uptake of home-based working in Britain could have a "huge impact" in cutting carbon emissions nationwide.