Steep Drop Hits Many Investors

More than 90 percent of retail investors on the Chinese mainland suffered losses last year.

About 60 percent of respondents to a survey said their capital in the stock market shrank more than 70 percent and only 6 percent of respondents said they were profitable.

A total of 25,110 investors participated in the survey carried out by Shanghai Securities News and a financial Website www.stockstar.com.

It showed that investors seemed to have been happy to increase their investment on speculation of a rebound whenever a new low was reached.

However, the 70.12-percent decline from its record high at 6,092.06 points was much steeper than expected.

Some 70 percent of investors had poured half of their total assets into the stock market with only 10 percent investing less than 30 percent of assets. About 70 percent investors felt their purchasing power had decreased and 20 percent postponed plans to buy an apartment or a car.

A majority agreed the index would not rise to the record high of 6,124 points soon.

Almost half expected it would take more than three years to reach a new high while fewer than 2 percent thought it would rebound to the record high in a year.

The survey also said 53 percent would decrease investments to gradually quit the market and 21 percent would stop this year.