A Chinese man has paid the equivalent of $1.1m for a mobile phone number.

The unnamed buyer shelled out a whopping nine million yuan for 135 8585 8585, which is apparently pronounced as "let me be rich, be rich, be rich, be rich" in Chinese.

He beat off around 70 other bidders on EachNet.com, where the sale of "lucky" numbers has boomed. EachNet PR representative Tang Lei said it was believed to be "the highest price ever paid for a phone number online".

Let's hope that 135 8585 8585 proves as auspicious for its new owner as he clearly believes it to be. Otherwise, he'll soon be back on the pay-as-you-go with his friends dialling "oh God I'm so skint, skint, skint" when they want a chat. ®