Chinese ADRs mixed in morning trading. XPeng fell 7.3%, PDD Holdings, Nio, Baidu fell 4%, Bilibili fell 1.7%, Alibaba fell 1%; JD.com rose 3.2%, KE Holdings rose 2.8%.

Outbound shipments from the world's second-largest economy grew 2.4% year-on-year last month, the slowest pace since April, customs data showed on Monday, missing a forecast 6.0% increase in a Reuters poll of economists and a 8.7% rise in August.

Imports edged up 0.3%, missing expectations for a 0.9% rise and softer than 0.5% growth previously. The weak data does not bode well for exports in coming months as just under a third of China's purchases are parts for re-export, particularly in the electronics sector.

"Export growth slowed last month but remained resilient, with volumes still rising at a double-digit pace," Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics said. "Further ahead, though, growing trade barriers are likely to become an increasing constraint."

"The pivot toward monetary easing should also help support demand among China's trade partners. But China's export success is prompting increasing trade restrictions from other countries, which threatens to dampen longer-term export growth," she added.

The European Commission on Oct. 4 saw its motion to impose additional duties on electric vehicles built in China of up to 45% pass in a divided vote of EU member states, joining the U.S. and Canada in tightening trade measures against China.