What started as a year of hope for China’s stock market has turned into disillusion for its 250 million retail investors. Kicking off 2026, millions bet on AI, semiconductors, and robotics, but optimism turned feverish as China joined a global tech rally. IPOs were subscribed thousands of times over, and spectacular debuts minted fortunes overnight. Now, Chinese equities are in a bear market, with over $3 trillion wiped out as major indexes erased a year of gains. Trading volumes have dwindled, and Beijing’s efforts to bolster the market are seen as stemming the bleeding at best. “The A-share market is a slaughterhouse for ordinary day traders,” said Zhu Shengwei, a full-time retail trader in Shenzhen. “We are always last to see where the money is moving and often arrive just in time to provide an exit for shareholders and earlier investors.”
In dark humor, smaller investors have dubbed the onshore market “Myanmar A” — a nod to scam compounds. Chinese shares suffered their longest selling streak on record, and trading is drying up. Over the past 10 years, the CSI 300 has returned an average 4.2% annually, against 15.6% for the S&P 500. Since 2021, only sanctions-ravaged Russia has fared worse among major global markets. “China can succeed in technology while shareholders struggle to earn a return,” said Kenneth Goh of UOB Kay Hian. “Policy support can build capacity without giving companies the pricing power to protect margins.” Retail investors are not alone; global downturns have punished speculative trading. In South Korea, individual investors lost $1.7 billion on leveraged products in three months. But China’s pain is deeper, with some indexes threatening to surrender all gains from the 2024 stimulus. “The dominant feeling is helplessness, and in chat groups, the mood is close to despair,” said Zhu, who is abandoning stock
Source: Bloomberg Markets · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing