Choppy market has many workers on edge

Xia Yuan, 28, a sales manager at Shanghai Yikang Trade Co Ltd, has received several e-mails from the company's administration department saying that stock trading during work hours is "strictly banned".

Xia said he has received such e-mails three times in the past four months. The company's IT specialists also have blocked access to several websites which provide real time stock market information.

"The upheaval in the stock market seems to have involved everyone in our company. Everybody talks about the stock market during work time, after work, and even during holidays via social media tools like WeChat," said Xia.