Amateur investors continue to fuel 'world-beating' equity frenzy

To get a sense of the frenzy in China's world-beating equity market, consider this: In a two-week span last month, the rally lured 2.8 million rookie stock pickers, almost the equivalent of Chicago's entire population.

The number of new equity accounts surged to a record in the two weeks ended on Friday, five times the average of the past year, data from China Securities Depository and Clearing Co showed on Tuesday. About 4 million accounts were opened in March, enough for every person in Los Angeles.

And more than two-thirds of new investors have never attended or graduated from high school, according to a survey by the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.