The Austrian Stock Exchange (ATX) was down significantly at Monday's opening – by 3.22 percent – following sharp falls in Asian markets that opened earlier that morning.
London's FTSE 100 index was down by 2.5% in early trade, while major markets in France and Germany also opened down by more than 3%.
Several Chinese indices fell by around eight percent in early trading on Monday, while bourses in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan were also hit hard.
The Tokyo-based Nikkei index fell by 3.21 percent in morning trading to below 19,000 points, its lowest point in the last five months.
China struggles to contain fears
Market observers have been watching China anxiously for weeks as the country suffers an abrupt slowdown in economic growth.
The latest loss of value comes in spite of massive Chinese government efforts in recent weeks to shore up markets in the country.
Shanghai's stock market has now lost all of the value it had added in the course of 2015.
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