Stock market volatility is normal

Government should focus on setting fair rules and make sure they are followed

When I became involved with China, in the late 1980s, Western media coverage of the country was small, and was aimed largely at Sinophiles with an interest in Chinese history. Naturally, the past 25 years have witnessed a tremendous increase in worldwide interest in China, as the country has risen to economic superpower status. But most of the new media coverage has not been accompanied by a corresponding increase in understanding. Almost every day, one can read columns and watch programs that seem to refer to China as if the country were on another planet.

Since 2014, international media coverage has focused increasingly on the volatile performance of the Chinese mainland's two stock markets, in Shanghai and Shenzhen, which rose between July 15, 2014 and June 12, 2015 by 150 percent in Shanghai and 185 percent in Shenzhen. They then fell in Shanghai over the next 21 days by 29 percent, and by 40 percent in Shenzhen, before recovering to close on July 15 this year, up 3 percent and 9 percent respectively, from the June low.