A language barrier poses a special problem to Pakistani students who are trying to maneuver within trading platforms which are controlled by the Chinese in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou when they study overseas. Most students find they cannot access popular international forex broker platforms they used back home and must seek local brokers with interfaces primarily in Mandarin. Translation software may be helpful, though the language of technical trading is usually not translated correctly, or regulatory notices may be misunderstood due to language translation issues.
The difference in culture in trade methods is evident when the Pakistani students deal with Chinese retail traders who are more inclined to other trade approaches and methods of market analysis. WeChat groups and university forums bring out contrary views on risk management, and the Chinese students tend to take more conservative positions regarding risk than the aggressive leverage-taking behaviour of Pakistani traders. The outcome of such cultural exchanges sometimes leads to very ardent discussions on the philosophy of trading and how much risk should be undertaken by the students.
The cost of living and tuition fees forces most Pakistani students to trade with smaller accounts than they would otherwise prefer. Family remittances usually have slim chances to exchange capital, so most students end up putting money that they cannot afford to lose. The psychological pressure of using trading profits to augment living standards usually leads to poor decision-making and excessive trading.
The issue of the Internet connectivity within Chinese university dormitories could also affect the performance of trading because the students could have no more connection during the most important moment or experience delays and, consequently, could not perform the orders in time. Other technical issues like the use of VPN to open the blocked foreign exchange broker sites can fail at some critical time. The alternative method that has been adopted by other students is the use of mobile data as a backup connection, although this is an expensive method in the long trading sessions or when there is a need to have real time market data coverage.
Compliance with different regulations becomes complex for Pakistani students who might not be aware of Chinese financial regulations or their duties as foreign residents engaging in currency markets. Local authorities have at times questioned students about their trading activities during visa renewals or routine checks, creating fear that forex trading could affect their legal status. Many students operate in a legal grey area without clear guidance on what is permitted under their student visas.
Time zone differences allow Pakistani students in China to access European and American market sessions more easily than traders in Pakistan, giving them better access to key trading hours. Morning classes may clash with London market opening and afternoon and evening classes overlap with New York trading. The students have made schedules to ensure that they combine their school schedules with the trading hours that would be most appropriate to their preferred currency combinations.
When the losses incurred by traders impact on the performance of students in terms of concentration towards their school work or when the gains made by traders lead to overconfidence that causes them to ignore their course work, academic pressure increases. Engineering and business students are also particularly tempted by the idea of forex trading as an opportunity to put the knowledge in mathematics and analytics into practice. Lectures are sometimes interrupted by students scrolling on their phones, assumed to be tracking market positions instead of class content.
Social interaction in Pakistani student communities in China is usually associated with trading discussions, where successful traders gain informal status and those who face losses tend to feel isolated or stressed. University WhatsApp groups are known to participate in trading information, forex broker information, and market analysis which is not always believable. These peer networks will be able to offer emotional help during inferior trading times but might also help in bad habits of trading due to group psychology.
The transfers of money can also be problematic with the students who wish to transfer money into the trading accounts or withdraw the profits when the regulations of the Chinese banks restrict certain foreign transactions that Pakistani students are eager to do.