A visitors to the National Galleries of Scotland view the work “A girl” of sculptor Ron Mueck on August 4, 2006 Edinburgh in Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

South Korean girl group KARA arrive during the 21st High1 Seoul Music Awards at Olympic gymnasium on January 19, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

A girl goes to school just before sunrise in Frankfurt, Germany, Wednesday, December 11, 2019. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Girls enjoy nice weather at a park in front of the Pothonggang Department Store in central Pyongyang October 11, 2015. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

Girls during a class at the Teire Irish dance school in Moscow, Russia on March 15, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Karpukhin/TASS)

A girl flies a kite in the afternoon in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 3, 2022. (Photo by Mohammad Ponir Hossain/Reuters)

A girl feeds a squirrel in Bolivar Square, in Caracas, Venezuela on June 4, 2024. (Photo by Gaby Oraa/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)