A Myanmar worker prepares corn for drying in a field during the harvest in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, 23 August 2018. (Photo by Hein Htet/EPA/EFE)

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 young girl gives a banana to a tamed baboon on the outskirts of Beira, Mozambique, Sunday, March, 31, 2019. Cholera cases among cyclone survivors in Mozambique have jumped to 271, authorities said. So far no cholera deaths have been confirmed. (Photo by Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo)

England players celebrate Sunday, July 27, 2025 after they defeated Spain to win the Euro 2025 tournament. The Lionesses won on penalties, retaining their European crown and avenging their loss to Spain in the 2023 World Cup final. (Photo by Harriet Lander/The FA/Getty Images)

Tourists are watching the sunrise from a viewing platform on the Three Gorges Dam in Yichang, China, on June 23, 2024. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A woman throws water at passing motorists during celebrations for the Thingyan festival, also known as the Buddhist New Year, in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on April 16, 2019. (Photo by Thet Aung/AFP Photo)

Soccer fans wearing Argentina's football team jersey arrive at workers' stadium to watch a friendly match between Australia and Argentina in Beijing on June 15, 2023. (Photo by Jade Gao/AFP Photo)

This aerial photograph taken on April 22, 2024 shows a flooded island after heavy rains in Qingyuan, in southern China's Guangdong province. More than 100,000 people have been evacuated due to heavy rain and fatal floods in southern China, with the government issuing its highest-level rainstorm warning for the affected area on April 23. (Photo by AFP Photo/China Stringer Network)