国际英语新闻:Web China: Crowd funding fueling creative projects in China

But there are worries about the potential risks that crowd funding faces. Some are concerned that a swindler could use the platforms to raise money for fabricated projects.

"Our team members review the projects very carefully before putting them online. Only about 10 percent of the projects we receive can be displayed on our website," said Zhang.

To avoid legal risks, Demohour prohibits project initiators from rewarding supporters in the form of cash or equity. It doesn't accept projects involving drugs, alcohol, cosmetics or real estate.

Demohour has received more than 6,200 creative projects since its establishment. About 700 projects have been listed online and 50 percent of them have successfully collected funding.

However, compared to their foreign counterparts, Chinese crowd funding websites are far from influential.

"A single project on Kickstarter can raise millions of U.S. dollars. But in China, raising over 500,000 yuan for a project can be very difficult," said Zhang.

But he said he is confident in the future of Chinese crowd funding platforms.

"Every time we contact project initiators, we see huge market demand for such websites. I think all we need to do is keep on working and accumulate recourse and experience," said Zhang.

Liu Weibing, a professor of political science at the China Youth College, reminded passionate business people of the challenges ahead.

"Getting funded is just the first step. You have to provide good services and products to your project supporters. There are many unknown challenges to face after celebrating successful online fund raising campaigns," said Liu.