A visitor poses for a photograph in front of a 3D painting depicting a Japanese Imperial army soldier at a 3D art gallery in Beijing January 16, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

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)

Train attendants take part in a parade training as they visit the national flag guard during a patriotic education event ahead of the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing, China July 25, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

An Iraqi soldier plays with an accordion found on the street while on patrol in the western neighborhood of Tamuz in Mosul on May 23, 2017, after the area was retaken during the ongoing offensive against Islamic State (IS) group fighters. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson of Britain in action during the women's synchronized 10m diving at the Paris Olympics on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Leah Millis/Reuters)

Great Britain's Molly Caudery reacts after being eliminated in the Women's Pole Vault Qualification at the Stade de France on the tenth day of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France on Monday, August 5, 2024. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images)

A bomb-laden Su-25 jet at the Hmeimim air base in December 2015. Russia's lease agreement obliged Assad’s military to safeguard the perimeter of the Hmeimim base, while giving Moscow legal jurisdiction over the facilities inside. Negotiating perimeter protection from Syria’s new rulers will be vital for the Russian bases in an era of wire-controlled drones immune to jamming. (Photo by AP Photo)

A woman walks past debris as Super Typhoon Ragasa hits the Central district in Hong Kong on September 24, 2025. Hong Kong's weather service issued the highest level of typhoon warning in the early hours, as Super Typhoon Ragasa brought powerful winds and lashing rain to the southern Chinese coast. (Photo by Peter Parks/AFP Photo)