(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-28 08:03

Figures matter in many cases. A large number could mean big power.

Like Time magazine that named millions of netizens the Person of the Year in 2006, the Hong Kong-based news magazine Yazhou Zhoukan gave more than 100 million Chinese investors in the country's stock market a pat on the back: they were selected as its 2007 Person of the Year.

While all Internet users were selected for "founding and framing the new digital democracy", this large number of Chinese were crowned for "making history" in the passing year. Similar to the netizens, there was not a single person who embodied this phenomenon in China's stock market.

Both the netizens and investors in the stock market are found in a similarly virtual reality: the Internet is a tool for bringing together the small contributions of millions of people and making them matter. The stock investors are involved in a market that is virtualized as colorful numbers and curves.

Behind the virtuality stands the power of the netizens and stock investors. The millions of Internet users have put an end to the era when the public was the passive receivers of information. They have grown into providers of information, opinions and ideas. Similarly, the dealings of 100 million Chinese investors in the stock market mean a lot to the wallets of thousands of Chinese families. The power of these people has also touched the country's economy.

There is an increasing influx of people into the stock market. The explosive growth of stock investors, especially individuals, has swayed with the stock market - its operation and rules of the game.

This large contingent of stock investors has made a big difference to Chinese people's lifestyle and a way to handle their money. They have made Internet and cellphones more popular.

They have been encouraged to make a fortune through hard and honest work. Now they are increasingly aware that the stock market is an important source of their legal income. Wooed by the high returns from stocks, many people without proper knowledge of the market buy shares.

After the South Sea Bubble of 1720 that suckered in Isaac Newton, the scientist said he could estimate the orbits of celestial bodies but not human craze.

That craze was the best case study for the highs and lows in China's stock market.

(China Daily 12/28/2007 page10)