A Chinese businessman has earned praise for his generosity after surprising his former classmates with specially-prepared gifts at a primary school reunion over the weekend.

The man, surnamed Zhang, presented each of his 39 classmates with an iPhone 6s over dinner in Ningbo, a city in Zhejiang province.

Each rose gold-coloured phone, which costs at least RMB5,288 (S$1,147), was customised with the words "To commemorate the Beilun Sanshan Primary School Class of 1998" engraved on the back.

According to Chinese media reports, the classmates were in the midst of the dinner hosted by Mr Zhang when iPhone boxes were placed at the dining tables.

"Take one for yourself as a souvenir," Mr Zhang, who is in his early 30s, had reportedly told them.

Photos of the iPhone gifts were posted by one of the dinner's attendees on microblogging site Weibo.

"He (Mr Zhang) is not showing off his wealth by being so generous," said one classmate. "He is a good man who cherishes the bond between us."

Mr Zhang is certainly not the first person to hand out iPhones as gifts to former classmates. In 2014, Chinese tycoon Qian Fenglei gave 14 former high schoolmates brand new iPhone 6s that were yet- launched in China.