Freshmen essentials 10,000 yuan for new term

Laptop, mobile phone and bank cards - the so called three-piece suit for many freshmen - will cost more than 10,000 yuan ($1,634) to start the new semester, Nanfang Daily reported Thursday.

Besides the basic electronics, some are also prepared to splash out on iPads, cameras, game players and other trendy products.

Interviews with 30 freshmen in different universities found more than 80 percent spend 2,000 yuan on clothes, over 90 percent spend more than 2,500 yuan on a mobile phone, over 70 percent plan to buy a laptop costing about 4,000 yuan, and other daily necessities cost about 1,500 yuan. In all the new term expenditure costs about 10,000 yuan without including school and lodging fees.

Huang Guiping, associate professor at South China University of Technology said, "the age is changing and electronic products become the expenditure threshold for freshman. But must they have so many high-end products or even several items at the same time?" Many students spend extravagantly, she added.

A parent surnamed Lin said his son is entering university this autumn, "we will satisfy his basic needs, but if he wants higher consumption or a better lifestyle, we hope he can earn that himself."