A paraglider who nearly froze to death after his parachute pulled him 28,000 feet into the air is being investigated by Chinese police.

The man, known locally as Liu Ge, was left suspended in -40F temperatures while flying above the Qilian Shan mountain range in northern China on Saturday.

Body camera footage shows the canopy of his parachute being lifted by a current of warm air in an extremely dangerous phenomenon known as ‘cloud suck’.

The 44-second clip shows Ge without an oxygen mask, his face and clothing encrusted with frost, desperately gripping onto the harness.

Despite being at nearly the same altitude as a cruising jumbo jet, Ge managed to retain consciousness and land his parachute safely.

“I felt oxygen deficiency, my hands were freezing outside... and I kept communicating via the intercom,” Ge told local media.

Ge had taken off for his flight from an altitude of around 9,800ft, according to local media reports.