In the past week, Chinese shares suffered the biggest weekly drop since 2008, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index diving by about 13 percent from the previous week. During Friday's trading, the index fell by 6.42 percent in a single trading day and nearly 1,000 stocks on the two bourses in Shanghai and Shenzhen slumped by the daily limit of 10 percent.

The slump has triggered international concerns.

Business Insider, an American business and technology news website, said in an article that two separate ideas - investing in stocks and social unrest - could come together and turn China's stock market dream into a nightmare if there is an abrupt end to the rise in the market, as predicted by some offshore investors.

However, having experienced the stock market bubble in 2007, Chinese investors are more rational about investing in the markets and better prepared for short-term volatility. Instead of triggering social unrest and a mass sell-off, last week's drop in the stock markets was still viewed by many retail investors as a periodic market correction, as evidenced by the comments posted on Chinese social networking websites. 

Indeed, last week's drop in the stock market might have affected the sentiments of some retail investors who incurred losses during the three-day holiday period.

But many investors are still confident about the Chinese stock market and feel that the bull-run will still last for quite a while. 

First, in the bull market, ordinary Chinese people have been enthusiastic about stock trading and many of them have accumulated large profits as the Shanghai Composite Index has doubled from last year.

Their profits may have shrunk due to last week's slump but the market still offers a relatively high profit rate compared with other investment channels. For instance, people may feel less pressure if the return rate drops from 50 percent to 30 percent, compared with suffering a loss of 20 percent.

There are also some ordinary people who had just invested in the stock market and suffered a loss last week, but the amount of money they invested might not have been huge given that they were new to the market and might have been cautious in making their investments. Therefore, their losses last week might not have been as big as those of long-term retail investors.

Second, there are common expectations among Chinese retail investors that the market may experience some volatility before the Shanghai Composite Index regains its footing over 5,000 points, so the remaining question is how long and how deep the correction will run.

Veteran retail investors know that stocks can never go straight up and some Chinese investors think it will be better if the market takes more time to reach its peak, which would mean a longer bull run and a more stable market.

News portal CNBC attributed the slump in the Chinese stock market last week to short-term factors. According to CNBC, the slide was sparked by fresh tightening moves on margin lending by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC), as well as a deluge of IPOs that posed a huge threat to market liquidity.

But official economic data released last week did not suggest a deterioration in the Chinese economy. On the contrary, it showed signs of an improvement in the property market.

Chinese stocks may maintain a rising trend in the coming months, but the market is likely to experience some volatility in the near future.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn