A month-old Tengmalm’s owl chick blends in with soft toys on August 8, 2024 at the Scottish Owl Centre in Whitburn, West Lothian. The chick is being raised by Trystan Williams, the centre’s head keeper, after losing its father and being abandoned by its mother. (Photo by Katielee Arrowsmith/South West News Service)

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)

In this Sunday, February 23, 2020, photo, sumo wrestlers wearing masks arrive at Shin Osaka railway station in Osaka, western Japan. A viral outbreak that began in China has infected more than 79,000 people globally. The World Health Organization has named the illness COVID-19, referring to its origin late last year and the coronavirus that causes it. (Photo by Kyodo News via AP Photo)

Wrestlers compete in the 63rd Historical Cali Oil Wrestling Tournament, held on June 29, 2025, in Bursa, Turkiye. The event, which featured over 800 wrestlers and served as the final rehearsal for the 664th Historical Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival, is on track to become a stage of the Oil Wrestling League, now in its third season. (Photo by Mustafa Yilmaz/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Supporters of Venezuela's late President Hugo Chavez bring down an inflatable doll of Chavez during a commemoration of what would have been the leader's 68th birthday, at the 23 de Enero neighborhood in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, July 28, 2022. (Photo by Ariana Cubillos/AP Photo)

A kingfisher plunged into the water in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, UK in the first decade of June 2025, to grab a fish for lunch – but its prey twisted free in a last-second escape. (Photo by Alan Benson/Caters News Agency)

Rian Johnson, left, director of the upcoming film “Knives Out”, takes a picture of cast member Ana de Armas as they are introduced onstage during the Lionsgate presentation at CinemaCon 2019, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) at Caesars Palace, Thursday, April 4, 2019, in Las Vegas. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP Photo)