Shu Chuan, 22, boss of six stores at college in Southwest University of Finance and Economics. [West China City News]

At 22, Shu Chuan is no ordinary student who survives on handouts from his family.

The junior at Southwest University of Finance and Economics (SUFE) earns around 20,000 yuan (US$3,022) a month from a string of businesses he has built, and even employs his own mother.

When not studying hard for his exams, Shu is also CEO of the SUFE shopping website, starting up a home-schooling center, running a tea shop, and a shareholder in a photocopy shop.

Shu earned his initial money by selling reading lamps and other living necessities while he was a sophomore. "After noticing the selling price of daily necessities were high in campus vendor stores, I figured maybe I could purchase some outside in wholesales markets, and re-sell them at campus at a lower price", Shu said in an interview cited in the West China City News Wednesday.

He then borrowed 3,000 yuan (US$453) from classmates to sell to new semester freshman, "and to my surprise, I earned more than 4, 000 yuan (US$604)", said Shu.

Having embraced success in business he then started to pay attention to other business opportunities around campus.

Although Shu is the boss of six businesses, he prefers to leave the daily operational matters to others. "I am mainly in charge of a monthly based revenue review, and to map out development plans", Shu explained when asked how to balances his studies with six businesses, "I am more a business observer and seizer than a daily commercial operator", he added.

(China Daily January 6, 2011)