SHANGHAI: Grabbing a piece of the country's bullish stock market has become something of a national passion, and the only people not excited about the situation are the many bosses out there struggling to keep their employees focused on their work rather than their portfolios.

So far, the stock market has climbed more than 40 percent this year, building on last year's meteoric 130 percent rise. Not surprisingly, people from across the country have been trying to get a piece.

More than 11 million new trading accounts have been opened since the beginning of this year, or twice the total number opened last year, according to the China Securities Depository and Clearing Co Ltd.

Altogether, there are now 90 million trading accounts in China, accounting for 7 percent of the country's 1.3 billion population.

The growing ranks of investors are not just pouring money into the market they are diverting an increasing amount of energy to it.

"It would be a shame to miss out on such bullish conditions after so many years of a bear market," said an editor at a leading news Web portal in Beijing, who requested to remain anonymous.

Some offices have become virtual trading floors during trading hours - 9:30 am-11:30 am and then 1 pm-3 pm - some local newspapers have reported.

People can be seen exchanging trading tips and stock picks over instant messaging programs like MSN and QQ during trading hours. Their work often suffers as a result.

And in some places of business, it is now considered poor form to disturb a staff member or government office worker during trading hours, newspapers have reported.

"The problem has become more acute with every increase in the market," said Tang Liang, who runs a small trading company in Hangzhou, the capital city of East China's Zhejiang Province.

But the young boss said he was taking a relatively relaxed attitude toward the problem.

"I discourage my staff from diverting too much energy to stock trading during working hours," the manager said.

(China Daily 04/30/2007 page3)

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