Vietnam's Khuat Phuong Anh (R) celebrates winning the women's 800m final during the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on May 16, 2022. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

An Asian elephant cools off at the zoo during the World Elephant Day in Lodz, central Poland, 12 August 2022. The World Elephant Day is observed every year on August 12. (Photo by Grzegorz Michalowski/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Zuo Tong of China performs on floor exercise during the women's team artistic gymnastics event of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Monday, September 25, 2023. China team won the gold. (Photo by Aaron Favila/AP Photo)

Japan's Mei Tsuruta competes in the rhythmic gymnastics individual qualification and individual team final event during the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, in China's eastern Zhejiang province on October 6, 2023. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

Cambodia’s Meth Sopheaktra and Pal Chhor Raksmy perform in the women's Vovinam self-defense event during the 32nd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in Phnom Penh on May 8, 2023. (Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP Photo)

Saleem Bagga, seen by some as a lookalike of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, poses for a selfie with a customer while selling kheer, a traditional South Asian rice pudding, along a road in Sahiwal, Pakistan on January 13, 2025. (Photo by Nida Meboob/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)