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)

Barrier tape is tied around 15-month-old Shivani's ankle to prevent her from running away, while her mother Sarta Kalara works at a construction site nearby, in Ahmedabad, India, April 19, 2016. Kalara says she has no option but to tether her daughter Shivani to a stone despite her crying, while she and her husband work for 250 rupees ($3.8) each a shift digging holes for electricity cables in the city of Ahmedabad. There are about 40 million construction workers in India, at least one in five of them women, and the majority poor migrants who shift from site to site, building infrastructure for India's booming cities. Across the country it is not uncommon to see young children rolling in the sand and mud as their parents carry bricks or dig for new roads or luxury houses. (Photo by Amit Dave/Reuters)

Gigi Gorgeous presents a creation during the American Heart Association's (AHA) Go Red For Women Red Dress Collection, presented by Macy's at New York Fashion Week February 11, 2016. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Australian model and designer Madeline Stuart, who has Down syndrome, acknowledges attendees after presenting creations from her label 21 Reasons Why By Madeline Stuart during New York Fashion Week in Manhattan, New York, U.S., February 12, 2017. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A person jumps on a trampoline before Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest at Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York City, U.S., July 4, 2017. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A relative of murdered prisoner, lies on a chair next to his coffin during a wake after a prison riot in the city of Altamira, Para state, Brazil on July 30, 2019. At least 57 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups in the Altamira prison in northern Brazil Monday with 16 of the victims being decapitated, according to prison officials. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

American actress Jennifer Coolidge poses on the red carpet as she arrives for the Time Magazine 100 gala celebrating their list of the 100 Most Influential People in the world in New York City, New York, U.S., April 26, 2023. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A store mannequin with a protective mask stands before a clothes store as they open for the first time since March during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on April 22, 2020 in Berlin, Germany. Small to midsized-shops are opening across Germany this week as state authorities follow a recommendation by the federal government to ease restrictions imposed in March meant to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Some schools are also planning to reopen soon, as are museums and hair salons in coming weeks. (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)