China says that some 1.1 million people in the Chinese capital Beijing -- close to 10% of the city's population -- have now invested in the stock market. The official Xinhua news agency reported that the figure increased by almost 80% in the past year and it said that recent changes in regulations had led to a change in the type of investor. Duncan Hewitt reports from Beijing:

The Chinese capital does not even have a stock market of its own. China's experiment with stock exchanges is so far limited to Shanghai and Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong.

But the Xinhua news agency said more than one million people out of a population of some 13 million are now registered an investors, with more than 150,000 joining the market last year. It said the new investors in the first half of the year were mainly older peple and the newly unemployed hoping to make quick money.

But a slow-down in the markets and closer government regulation subsequently dampened their enthusiasm and recent investors have been mainly young and middle-aged professionals. The report suggested this showed investors were becoming more mature in their behaviour, yet analysts say many small investors are still in search of a quick profit -- buying and re-selling within days and fuelling the market's famed volatility.

Falling bank interest rates have also added to enthusiasm for shares. A recent survey in Shanghai showed that 42% of the population now regard the Stock Market as a better place to put their money thank banks.