Shares of struggling Chinese real-estate developer Evergrande Group plunged sharply on Monday, its first trading day in about 17 months.

Trading of the group's shares has been suspended on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since March of last year, after the group failed to release its earnings report for fiscal year 2021 on time.

As trading resumed on Monday morning, Evergrande's shares fell 87 percent at one point to as low as 22 Hong Kong cents.

Some shares were bought back as the day progressed, and the group's shares ended the day at 35 Hong Kong cents, down 79 percent from before the suspension.

Earlier this month, the Evergrande Group filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection with a US court to reorganize its business.

The group plans to go ahead with its debt-restructuring plan through negotiations with creditors. The meeting with the creditors was initially scheduled to take place on Monday. But the developer postponed the event till late September, indicating that the negotiations may proceed with difficulties.

The group reported on Sunday that its net loss for the January-to-June period is about 33 billion yuan, or about 4.5 billion dollars.

Monday's closing price of its shares appears to reflect market concerns over the embattled Evergrande Group prospects against the backdrop of the prolonged downturn of China's real-estate sector.