Which 2015 Chinese market crash followed a burst of mainland stock speculation?

The 2015–2016 Chinese stock-market turbulence followed a burst of mainland stock speculation.

Chinese mainland share prices rose rapidly from 2014 into mid-2015, with large numbers of retail investors entering the market and many using borrowed money. The Shanghai Composite Index reached 5,178.19 on June 12, 2015. It then fell sharply, losing more than 40% by late August.

The authorities responded with measures including trading suspensions, restrictions on some share sales, support for major stocks, and investigations into market activity. A second major sell-off occurred in early 2016. On January 4 and January 7, 2016, newly introduced circuit breakers were triggered and then abandoned after producing additional market disruption.

The episode is sometimes described simply as the Chinese stock-market crash, but the turbulence involved several waves rather than one isolated day. It also differed from China’s later property and debt problems, which affected broader parts of the economy than publicly traded shares alone.