Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 508.63 points, or 2.14 percent, to open at 23,274.86 points on Tuesday.

The sell-off followed a sharp fall in US stocks overnight, with investors concerned that US President Donald Trump's tariff policy could tip the world's biggest economy into recession. The three main US indices lost between two and four percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei-225 and Seoul's Kospi Index also fell by over two percent in early trading.