A Chinese businessman has paid a world record 310,000 euros ($398,500) for a Belgian pigeon, highlighting Asia's huge and growing interest in racing birds.

The 1-year-old award-winning pigeon named Bolt was bred by Belgian pigeon fancier Leo Heremans, a well-known name to pigeon enthusiasts, who sold his collection of 530 birds for 4.3 million euros at an auction over the weekend.

"You can compare it to artwork. A painting made by Picasso is worth more than one made by an unknown artist. It's the same with this pigeon," Nikolaas Gyselbrecht of pigeon auction site PIPA said on Tuesday.

Despite drawing the attendance of buyers from 27 countries, nine of the 10 most expensive racing pigeons sold at the auction were purchased by clients from China, PIPA said.