the share price of chinese property giant longfor group holdings ltd tumbled by a record amount on monday after its longserving chair abruptly resigned during a brewing crisis in the countrys real estate sector longfors equities plummeted by as much as 45 percent on monday morning before rallying to close down 238 percent at hk10 127 per share the plunge  the beijingheadquartered firms biggest decline on record  comes on the heels of billionaire founder and chairwoman wu yajuns departure wu resigned as a director due to her age and health reasons the company said in a friday evening exchange filing adding its business operation remains stable with a clear development direction longfor moved to calm investors on monday in a separate filing noting the unusual fluctuation in its share price but asserting that the companys financial position is healthy and safe a firmly optimistic controlling shareholder  owned by wus family  had bought shares on monday that brought its interest in the company to around 43 percent the filing said it added that longfor had made a partial early repayment of hk51 billion on a loan due next year its definitely a negative for the company steve wong an analyst at essence international financial holdings ltd told bloomberg it doesnt make sense for the chairwoman to suddenly quit during a real estate crisis maybe wu realized theres little she can do given the situation he said property and construction account for around a quarter of chinas gross domestic product but crippling debts have forced a series of developers to default on loans in recent months while others have struggled to raise cash analysts have raised fears that the crisis could yet spread to the countrys financial sector at a time when beijings hardline zerocovid policy has also put a lid on growth chinese stocks extended losses on monday following the release of more dismal economic figures and the tightening of covid curbs around the country the purchasing managers index pmi  a key gauge of manufacturing in the worlds secondbiggest economy  came in at 492 down from septembers 501 and below the 50point mark separating growth from contraction according to data from the national bureau of statistics investors fled chinese equities en masse last week after president xi jinping broke longstanding precedent to seal a third term in power fuelling fears that lockdowns and other measures harmful to the economy would continue