'Weird walking posture' alerts authorities to iPhone smuggler

A man has attempted to smuggle almost 100 iPhones into China by strapping them to his body.

The smuggler was nabbed by security at Fution Port on the Chinese border with Hong Kong, Chinese news site Sina reports.

Port officials became suspicious of the man due to his "weird walking posture, joint stiffness (and) muscle tension," according to the report.

However it wasn't until the man had set off the security's metal detector after passing through a bag search that security investigated further.

After further examination, security found 94 of the Apple devices taped around the smuggler's torso and legs like metal body armour.

It is understood the types of phones strapped to his body included iPhone 6s, iPhone 5s and iPhone 5cs.

Fution Port in China connects Hong Kong with the rest of mainland China.

News of the smuggling comes in the same month three Chinese men were arrested for tunnelling their way into a warehouse and stealing hundreds of iPhones worth more than $280,000.

Police allege the men dug a 50-cm hole into the wall of the storage facility in the lead up to Christmas, on around December 12 last year.

They are accused of stealing 240 of Apple's iPhone 6 phones from a Beijing warehouse, Chinese news agency Xinhua News reported.

Police arrested the suspects in late December after tracking the serial numbers of the phones.

Apple's smartphones are considered highly popular in China, with reports the country had around 10 million requests for the iPhone 6.

Apple's latest smartphone was launched in September last year and has been dubbed by a number of Chinese citizens as the "Kidney 6".

The name stems from a 2012 incident where a 17-year-old high school student sold one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone.

Last month, Apple was forced to comment on allegations it forces its Chinese workers on its iPhone and iPad assembly lines to work exhaustive overtime shifts. Apple employs around 1,400 manufacturing workers in China.