Gazing at the share price movements on a big screen at a stock
brokerage in Guangdong Road in downtown Shanghai, Wang Xingfa, a
44-year-old executive, looked very worried.
Wang had reason to be concerned as his losses, amounting to
nearly 70,000 yuan over the past two weeks, seemed to be mounting
as the index plunged sharply for the second consecutive day
yesterday. But Wang said he still intends to hold on to his stocks
and will wait for the market to recover.
Like Wang, many small investors in China are adopting a "wait
and see" attitude toward the recent plunge in the market, which has
wiped out most of their paper profits.
Wang Guofu, a 63-year-old tourist guide, was less anxious as he
monitored the plunge at home.
"Most of my stocks have not slid below my initial investment, I
will continue to wait for a rebound because the Chinese economy
remains strong," said Wang, adding he favors long-term investment
and most stocks he holds now were bought a year ago at a price much
lower than their current level.
As the valuation of mainland stocks, at an average of over 70
times their earnings, looks increasingly improbable and amid the
worries of a global economic slump, the stock market has gone into
reverse gear in the last two days.
"I have lost half of my total investment in two days," said
Liang Qianjin, a retired worker in her 50s. She had invested 40,000
yuan in stocks but retained only around 20,000 yuan in her account
when the market closed yesterday.
Qian Yafeng, a 26-year-old marketing professional, said he
burned his fingers in mutual funds. "I have lost nearly 10,000 yuan
in mutual funds in these two days. However, I believe the market
will not fall any further because of the coming 2008 Olympic
Games."
Lin Xin was the most relieved of all. He sold all his stocks at
the beginning of the year. With over 10 years of stock investment
experience, Lin said the extremely high stock values pushed him to
stay away from the market temporarily.
(China Daily January 18, 2008)
