It's back to school on September 1 for students around China, and both of they and their parents have been busy preparing to welcome in the new semester. Many stores are seeing parents purchase school supplies for their youngsters, often spending thousands of yuan on supplies, especially electronics.  

Chen Jia, 33, is expecting a tablet computer for her daughter’s studies will cost around 2,500 yuan. That’s nearly 400 US dollars. In addition to the cost of other kinds of supplies, Chen will spend 3,000 to 5,000 yuan on her daughter before the upcoming semester kicks-off. She says this tablet computer is a bit expensive, but she believes it’s worth it because somehow it’ll be helpful for her academic studies.

Many stores that sell electronic devices say their sales have doubled ahead of the new semester. Sales include tablet computers, electronic watches and even some robot teachers.

Chen Jia says the new generation of parents keeps up with trends better than their own parents. They’re willing to try new commodities that they can afford to help with their kids’ studies. 

Besides the electronic gadgets, sales of books, stationery and other items for students have also gone up. Zhang Yaqin, head of the educational department at the Shanxi Xinhua Bookstore, says that as school will soon begin, they’ve seen the sales of tool books, literature classics and reference books increase and sometimes double  

Many parents say they usually spend around 1,000 yuan for a single kid before school begins. And those two-child parents have to spend even more. 

Yang Lijuan, a mother of two boys, says she often has to spend thousands of yuan for her two kids, mostly on stationery and books. She even has to pay more for their after-school classes. That may cost of tens of thousands of yuan. 

As the back-to-school economy continues to boom, many social experts are calling on parents to raise awareness of rational consumption and also help their kids build the right attitude towards spending.