Icelandic disappointment

The Chinese billionaire who was blocked from buying a sizeable piece of Iceland hasn't given up his pursuit of a Scandinavian paradise.

According to reports in Chinese media, the billionaire businessman Huang Nubo, who wanted to buy $200 million worth of land in Iceland, says he's negotiating for property in Denmark and Finland instead. At a forum in Beijing, a reportedly huffy Huang said he has not abandoned his idea. Huang said it seemed his membership in the Communist Party of China was the real problem for Iceland, not foreign land ownership rules.

"Perhaps the world is not yet ready to accept Chinese entrepreneurs," Huang said, according to the Guangdong Daily.

Huang had planned to build a personal golf and eco-entertainment resort paradise on a 300-square kilometer plot in Iceland. The Icelandic government said his planned purchase didn't meet government regulations on foreign companies. Huang reportedly told the forum in Beijing that if ailing Iceland doesn't want his money, other countries, even the United States, certainly will.