People take photos inside the Chanchao Meow Expo 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan on October 14, 2022. (Photo by Ann Wang/Reuters)

A stork starts from its nest in the cliffs high above the Atlantic Ocean in Cabo Sardao, Portugal, Friday, March 29, 2024. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

On the 6th October 2024, tourists visiting Cheongsan Arboretum in Taean-gun, Chungcheongnam-doon, South Korea are walking among pampas grass, also known as Western silver grass. (Photo by Shin Hyeon-jong)

UK Eurovision girlband Remember Monday feature pals Lauren Byrne, Holly-Anne Hull and Charlotte Steele, 2025. (Photo by Rob Parfitt)

British driver Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin compete in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 during the Artigas stage of the WRC Rally Paraguay, 10th stage of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC), near Encarnacion, Paraguay on August 30, 2025. (Photo by Luis Robayo/AFP Photo)

A child sits in a walkway at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Thursday, May 22, 2025. (Photo by Odelyn Joseph/AP Photo)

Penelope Cruz attends the Palme d'Or Award Ceremony held at the Palais des Festivals during the 63rd Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2010 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

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)