Shanghai Stock Exchange

China Telecom could raise more than $8 billion in a Shanghai initial public offering that would be the biggest this year, months after it was delisted in the United States amid Washington's stand-off with Beijing.

class='cf'>

There is great concern among the investors and analysts who talk about a second financial crisis like the one of 2008, after Chinese stock markets shutting down for a second time within a week.

About 2.5 trillion dollars are estimated to have been lost in 2016 (until yesterday) from global equity markets without counting the current fall.

Trading on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges was ended early on Jan. 4 after shares fell 7 percent, the first time China's new "circuit breaker" intervened to curb market volatility.

I started my career as an economist at the Capital Markets Board of Turkey. It was the 1980s. I was fresh out of school and excited to be part of a milestone in my country?s economic policy: opening the Turkish stock market to foreign investors. 

A few weeks ago, at the height of the panic in the Chinese stock markets, a sour joke was doing the rounds: "Last month, the dog was eating what I eat. Last week, I was eating what the dog eats. This week, I think I'll eat the dog." A lot of people have lost a lot of money.

Chinese stocks rose strongly for a second day on July 10, buoyed by a barrage of government support measures, but worries persist about the long-term impact that four weeks of stock market turmoil may have on the world's second-largest economy. 

Chinese stocks plunged on July 8 after the country's securities regulator warned investors were in the grip of "panic sentiment" and the market showed signs of freezing up as firms scrambled to escape the rout by having their shares suspended.

Chinese shares took another tumble on July 6, defying government efforts to arrest a precipitous fall that has wiped an estimated $3.2 trillion off markets and threatens the world's number-two economy.

The government over the weekend announced a halt to initial public offerings (IPOs) and moves to pour funds into the market to end three weeks of plunging prices.