Mainland markets in free fall  The key Shanghai bourse fell 8.5 percent through a key support level of 3,500 to finish at a five-month low of 3,210.8. The hefty plunge came even as authorities allowed pension funds managed by local governments to invest in the stock market for the first time, which could potentially channel hundreds of billions of yuan into the country's struggling equity market.  Among China's other indexes, the benchmark CSI300 index - which consists of 300 A-share stocks listed on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges - skidded 8.8 percent, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite retreated 7.7 percent.  According to Reuters, the slump on Monday means that the Shanghai bourse has given up all its gains for the year, while the CSI300 is down over 6 percent for the year.  "Although we remain positive in the long term, we do acknowledge [that there are] signs of a perfect storm due to weakness in the purchasing managers' index (PMI), weak consumption and retail sales, and the recent renminbi devaluation," Stephen Ma, head of Greater China equities at BMO Global Asset Management, told CNBC Asia's "Squawk Box."  Among the top losers, brokerages such as Citic Securities and Haitong Securities fell by the daily maximum allowable of 10 percent each. Heavyweight developer Poly Real Estate also shaved off 10 percent.  In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index followed its mainland peers lower, down 5.2 percent, with heavyweights such as HSBC and China Mobile plunging 4.3 and 7.9 percent, respectively.  Read MoreAs Shanghai stocks crumble, what will China do next?  Taiwan's weighted index fell to a three-year low, even as the country's Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) announced that short selling of stocks below the closing prices of the previous business day will not be permitted.  At one point in the morning trading session, the main TAIEX index slumped 7 percent at an intra-day low of 7,203, with investors spooked by the accelerated downturn in China's equity markets.  On the domestic data front, Taiwan's jobless rate eased slightly to 3.74 percent in July, compared with June's 3.76 percent.
Asian investors made a stampede for the exit on Monday on the back of growing fears surrounding the health of China's economy.