A university in Guangdong province requires first - and second-year students to run twice a week, and it recently installed electronic devices to check.

Students at Dongguan University of Technology must scan a card at a special post on one side of a running track, then input a personal student ID number and take a mug shot to sign in. They must scan the card again at a post on the opposite side of the loop to record their time.

The surveillance system, installed for trial at the university's City College, is designed to enforce running quotas - 1 km for males and 800 meters for females twice a week.