Taipei - Taiwan stocks plunged more than 3 per cent Monday despite government measures to stabilize the stock market amid global jitters.

Two hours into trading, the TAIEX index had fallen 156.22 points, or 3.04 per cent, to 4,974.71.

The plunge occurred despite the Taiwan government's announcement of three measures to shore up the stock market.

The new measures including limiting stocks' rise or fall to 3.5 per cent, down form the previous 7 per cent in any trading session, extending the ban on short-selling and continuing to use the National Stabilization Fund to continue to intervene in the market.

But Ying Nai-ping, a finance professor at the National Chengchih University, said the government measures are not effective because they are not entirely new.

"To stabilize the stock market, the government must focus on improving the economy," he said in an interview with the Broadcasting Corp of China. (dpa)