– What has China done to try to stop shares falling? The index is down 38 per cent from its June 12 peak and just under 1 per cent below its closing on December. 31, last year’s final trading day.

The benchmark has lost all of its gains for 2015, though it is still more than 40 percent above its level a year ago.

“This is already a small-scale stock market disaster”.

Thomson ReutersAn investor drinks from a bottle as he looks at an electronic board showing stock information at a brokerage house in NanjingSHANGHAI (Reuters) – China major stock indexes opened down sharply on Monday as investors failed to take inspiration from the formalization of rules allowing pension funds to invest in the stock market over the weekend.

Chinese shares have plummeted more than 8 per cent in morning trade, extending fears of a deep global market sell-off driven by broader concerns around the Chinese economy.

China’s stock market has detached from economic performance before.

The euro climbed to the strongest level since February against the dollar, reaching $1.15, while the Yen rose to a three-month high.

“European markets have not re-rated to anything like the same extent and remain attractively valued in our view – though they too may sag a bit further”.

Al Jazeera’s Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, stated “you do not must be an economist to know that there are some very unusual issues occurring within the Chinese language financial system”.

The smaller Shenzhen Component Index fell 7.83% to close at 10,970.29 points.

Currencies across Asia slid against the dollar to multiyear lows, with Malaysia’s ringgit leading the losses, down more than 1.9% in early trade.

“Taiwan’s GDP is weaker than expected”.

“The entry of the pension fund will take a long time to happen”.

– Why is slowing growth such a problem domestically? They worry the change will lead to money flowing out of China, reducing credit available for trading.

Oil is a lifeline of economic growth for many developing countries, which are also seeing their currencies lose value because of their economic exposure to China.

– Why is slowing growth a problem internationally?

Video: China’s Economy: What Happened? “Selling pressure around global markets is also weighing on local sentiment”. Any weakness in demand could be keenly felt by producers.

Concerns over China knocked the FTSEurofirst 300 last week as it posted its biggest weekly drop since August 2011, and it hit its lowest level since January in early deals on Monday.

Concerns growth is decelerating in the world’s number two economy were fuelled on Friday when the preliminary figure for Caixin’s purchasing managers’ index for August, a key indicator of manufacturing activity, slumped to a 77-month low.

Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting last week revealed policymakers want to see further improvement in the labour market and inflation before raising interest rates for the first time in almost nine years.