Ghostwriting hits frightening levels

Many university students under pressure are turning to the Internet for help - not for research, but to find someone to write their reports for them.

So common is this phenomenon that a new research paper from Wuhan University in Hubei province estimated that university students spend up to half a billion yuan ($73 million) a year to have other people write their essays.

A 26-year-old, part-time ghostwriter in Beijing says he is not surprised about the growing industry, from which he had drawn "decent profits" for half a decade.