Despite an occasional spurt in turnover and share prices, stock-brokers are facing hard times in sharp contrast to the bumper years of yore.

Brokers and analysts have been evasive and shy in talking about the plight of their industry, but privately, they have been lamenting the loss of fat bonuses that they took for granted during the boom years.

But one thing they said they could count on was their jobs. American-style mass layoffs are rare in China's financial markets because of the low basic salaries of the employees. All they are going to lose are their perks, said an analyst at a major Beijing-based stockbrokerage. "Despite no salary cut so far, we do not expect fat bonus by the end of this year," he said.