Investors look downcast at a brokerage house in Fuyang city, East China's Anhui province, July 28, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Stock market rollercoaster

The A-share market suffered a free fall from June to August in 2015 when the market regulator tightened leverage norms. Funds panicked, a selloff ensued, and even global markets shivered, worried over further slowdown in the world's second largest economy.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index crashed 45 percent in less than two months. The rout wiped out $5 trillion of market value and prompted the regulator to launch an unprecedented rescue.

The plunge delayed reform of the Chinese stock market, prompting the regulator to intensify crackdowns on market manipulators and insider trading. Several senior executives of CITIC Securities, the country's largest brokerage, were investigated for alleged insider trading.