European shares fell in early trading on Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street and in Asia, with disappointing Chinese trade data further raising concerns about the pace of economic growth in the world's second-biggest economy.

Data on Sunday showed that China's trade performance slumped in January, with exports falling 3.3 per cent from year-ago levels and imports slipping 19.9 per cent, far worse than analysts had expected.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was down 0.7 per cent at 1,480.42 points by 0806 GMT.

Investors also remained cautious following jitters over Greece. Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras laid out plans on Sunday to dismantle Greece's "cruel" austerity programme, ruling out any extension of its international bailout and setting himself on a collision course with his European partners.

Standard & Poor's cut Greece's rating on Friday, while Moody's said it was placing Greece's government bond rating on review for downgrade.

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