On Tuesday, both Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges ran landslide slumps. SSE (Shanghai Stock Exchange) Composite dropped 143.55 to near 3300, while the SSE (Shenzhen Stock Exchange) Component Index fall 841.52. More than 600 stocks ended limit-down. According to a report issued by Guotai Junan Securities, the leading security firm in China, it only took six months for the SSE Composite to dive from the peak of 6124 last October to 3308 this week, 50% shrinkage of the market value. The drop is not only historical in China, but very rare around the world. Previously, SSE Composite had a 40% downward swing from 2245 in June 2001 to 1350 in November, another 40% plunge from 1740 to 998 in 2004.
Source: Information Times, April 2, 2008
http://informationtimes.dayoo.com/html/2008-04/02/content_153174.htm