The Chinese stock markets have been extremely volatile since the middle
of 2006. After seven years of bearish performance in the late 1990s and
in the first five years of the 21 st century, a bullish market emerged in
China in early 2006, accelerating dramatically from the middle of that
year. Within 18 months, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) Composite
Index had risen more than threefold, reaching 6,124.04 on 16 October
2007. By the end of 2007, 1,530 companies had been listed on the
Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges with a total market value of
32.71 trillion RMB