Some are in it just for the money, others to help buy a meal. Then there are those who trade for fun or to spend time among friends. Millions of investors – pensioners, security guards, high-school students – dominate China's stock markets, conducting about 80 percent of all trades. Retirees gather in brokerage houses dotted around China also to enjoy some company and savour the air conditioning on hot days. Some start as young as 13, trading from home with an eye on future careers in finance. Winning isn't guaranteed. This year, among the most turbulent in China's financial history, its stock markets more than doubled in the six months to May, only to crash amid concerns that growth in the country, which makes everything from cars to steel, is slowing faster than previously thought. (Photo by Aly Song/Reuters)

A Malaysian woman walks past an advertisement outside a jewellery store at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur on August 25, 2015. Prices of crude oil and most other commodities rebounded in Asia on August 25 but stayed under pressure following a global sell-off sparked by the faltering economy in China, the world's top user of industrial metals and energy. Gold prices remained steady, boosted by prospects of increased demand due to its status as a safe haven in times of turmoil. (Photo by Manan Vatsyayana/AFP Photo)

In this April 16, 2015 photo, costume jewelry is on display for sale at al-Aqeeliya open-air auction market in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A man came with the suitcase full of beaded jewelry and sold the whole bag to the auction winner, who had just a few moments to inspect its contents before buying. (Photo by Hasan Jamali/AP Photo)

An Afghan vendor selling birds to be kept as pets wait for customers in his shop in Kabul on December 11, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Sahel Arman/AFP Photo)

A vendor arranges dates on his cart at a market in Rawalpindi on June 1, 2023. (Photo by Farooq Naeem/AFP Photo)

A woman carrying cabbage leaves on her head buys tomato at a market in Ahmedabad, India, November 9, 2015. India's villages face a sharp spike in food prices in 2016, as a second year of drought drives up the cost of ingredients such as sugar and milk, and poor transport infrastructure stops falling global prices from reaching rural areas. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Sellers sort persimmons for sale at a wholesale market in Hanoi, Vietnam October 3, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Kham)

A duck salesman parades his stock to commuters at a busy station in Dhaka, Bangladesh on May 23, 2018. (Photo by Nazmul Hasan Khan/Caters News Agency)