A Chinese student has gone to extreme lengths to get his hands on the latest iPhone, offering up his girlfriend in exchange for cash to put towards the device.

Photos of the man brandishing a sign that read "Girlfriend Sharing" appeared on the Chinese social media site Weibo this week.

On offer was the chance to eat, study, play games or go on dates with the woman, although it did warn there would be no "funny business".

According to posters on Weibo, the man claimed his girlfriend was a willing participant in the scheme, which offered her up for 10 yuan (£1) per hour.

The identity of the man is not yet clear, though his advertising exploits took place at Songjiang University in Shanghai.

iPhone dowry and human trafficking

The student's endeavours are the latest in a string of incidents showing the desperate lengths some people go to in order to acquire the latest must-have Apple gadget.

Earlier this week, a Saudi man reportedly asked his prospective brother-in-law for an iPhone 6 as a dowry for marrying his sister.

"We have heard about quite a few things, but an iPhone 6 that has not even hit the markets here is a bit bizarre," said Saud Ahmad, a Bahraini office clerk, in response to the request.

"We need to promote a culture where marriage should not be used by anyone to get gifts or make profits in any way. If I had been the groom, I would have confronted the brother."

When the iPhone 5 was launched in China last year, a couple was charged with human trafficking after allegedly selling three of their newborn babies to pay for items that included high-end shoes and an iPhone.

The pair, also from Shanghai, admitted to selling three of their babies for a total sum of $13,000, between 2008 and 2013.