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)