Ahead of first anniversary of China’s stock market rout, two bear statues bring grief to online users

Two bear statues that appeared on a street off the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s headquarters in Beijing, evoking memories of last year’s stock market crash, were removed on Wednesday after much online criticism.

They were replaced with statues of monkeys instead.

The stock market rout started in mid-June last year, when the Shanghai index lost about a third of its value before rebounding. The smaller Shenzhen stock market also suffered huge losses. Many investors are still reeling from crash.