Among those college students who have become successful businessmen, Sima Yijiang, a student at Xinjiang University of Finance and Economics is quite unique.

He has built his business by collecting rubbish, something many people look down upon.

Sima's younger sister had congenital heart disease. To treat her, his father, a teacher in the rural area, borrowed 100,000 yuan (US$12,500) right before Sima was enrolled in the university in 2002. With great pressure of debt on his shoulders, Sima began his college life, worried and depressed.

In his college years, he tried to run a baked dumplings shop in cooperation with others, run some small businesses between terms and do domestic services, but it was rubbish that gave his income a real kick start, the Xinjiang Economic Daily reported.

Right after entering university, Sima noticed many wasted bottles were thrown in the corridors of dormitory buildings, grounds and rubbish dumps, and came up with the idea he should collect them.

In the beginning he used the money to buy several Nang, a kind of Xinjiang pan cake for meals. But as more and more bottles were sold, he gradually found he was able to buy more than just meals, and turned rubbish collection into a reasonably profitable business.

Collecting rubbish soon turned into buying old school books, taking advantage of the many graduates who would sell their used books and notebooks before leaving school. Sima would buy them at low prices and sell the second-hand books to other students for a profit.

This plan was implemented in June 2006, when Sima collected a ton of used books at 0.7 yuan (US$0.09) per kilogram (kg) and divided them into two categories. Books in the category of "out of use" were sold to rubbish recycling companies as waste paper at 1 yuan (US$0.13) per kg, while other books were sold to lower-grade students at up to 8 yuan (US$1) each. After 20 days of book collecting, he sold a total of 19 tons of waste paper and 4 tons of used books, earning a profit of 5,700 yuan (US$712.50).

So began a healthy little business venture, and as time went on, Sima became too busy to study and failed eight examinations.

Soon after, he applied for a year off college, so he could concentrate on his business.

During the summer vacation, Sima filed for a business certification and set up a rubbish collection shop at the school market. He displayed used books in the shop and sold 4 tons of books in two weeks at the beginning of term, earning a profit of 15,000 yuan (US$1,974). Soon the shop became well known among students.

Sima's business has continued to flourish. With more than 2,000 yuan (US$250) monthly income, he has become financially independent and is also supporting a friend studying at Shanghai International Studies University. Sima said he preferred others to call him a "student", instead of a typical "businessman".

"I'm still a student," he said.

"And I'm going back to classes this September."

(China Daily September 13, 2007)