On July 25, the three major stock indexes in A-shares collectively fell, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping below the psychological barrier of 2900 points. Hu Xijin, former editor-in-chief of the Chinese Communist Party’s official media Global Times, released his stock trading diary on that day, stating that he lost another 5,660 yuan on the day, with a total loss exceeding 100,000 yuan for the first time.
In the morning of the 25th, the three major A-share indexes opened lower, with the Shanghai Composite Index opening directly below 2900 points. During the morning session, the three indexes basically maintained a low-level fluctuation trend. Before the midday close, the indexes saw some rebound, but in the afternoon, they once again turned lower.
At the close, the Shanghai Composite Index fell by 0.52% to 2886.74 points, the Shenzhen Component Index fell by 0.22% to 8474.70 points, and the ChiNext Index fell by 0.39% to 1644.45 points.
On the same day, Hu Xijin stated in his stock trading diary that he lost another 5,660 yuan (RMB), with his total losses exceeding 100,000 yuan for the first time. He expressed some self-reproach for achieving such poor results in stock trading.
“Some people may think that I am just ‘playing the stock market’ rather than truly trading stocks. They may not care about losses and gains, but in fact, I take stock trading very seriously,” said Hu Xijin.
Hu Xijin also shared insights on three stocks he held: “In the morning session, I sold two-thirds of a stock that had a significant loss and surged today because even though it had already dropped significantly, I felt its rebound would be difficult to sustain without a major market rally.”
“At the opening, another stock experienced a sharp decline. When it began to recover and reduce its decline, I sold one-third of it. By the closing bell, this stock had dropped nearly 2 percentage points more than when I reduced my position. This reduction helped mitigate my losses for the day.”
Hu Xijin stated, “The logic of the stock market is constantly changing, and it’s very difficult to keep up with it. I started with a capital of 700,000 yuan in stock trading, which has shrunk to 600,000 yuan. Despite my poor performance, I want to objectively document it as a sample of the situation of retail investors in the Chinese stock market, hoping that my case will not scare everyone.”
Since entering the stock market in June 2023, Hu Xijin’s stock holdings have been on a continuous decline along with the A-share market. In May of this year, he admitted in his stock trading diary that he was losing over 3,500 yuan per month.
At the Snowball Carnival Conference in Guangzhou in December last year, Hu Xijin stated, “If the stock market falls below 2800 points, I will definitely dare to buy more. Below 2800 points, gold is everywhere.” When asked by the host, “What if someday you are left with only 50,000 yuan in losses?” Hu Xijin responded, “I guess I would jump off a building.”
Many people have questioned Hu Xijin’s motives for stock trading, suggesting that he is playing a strategic game like Xiang Zhuang’s dancing with swords before the lord of Pei.
Liu Jipeng, director of the Capital Finance Research Institute at China University of Political Science and Law and a well-known economist, commented that unlike ordinary retail investors who trade stocks for profit, Hu Xijin engages in speculative stock trading to earn more money through capitalizing on market momentum.
Liu Jipeng has publicly mentioned that China’s capital market-related systems are still incomplete and has advised investors not to enter the market at present.