Yeah yeah, I’ve heard that before. There’s a whole cottage industry of “experts” that have predicted the imminent collapse of China going back decades. Call me when it actually happens.
China’s economy is stacked like a house of cards and could come crumbling down due to some unforeseen global financial shock, but then again that sounds like most modern economies. I think people just pick on China because, instead of having a group of billionaires stack up the cards, the government does it themselves.
You just described the US, UK, and much of the western world entirely. The global economy is just a bunch of "IOU"s
China is a bit different in that regard, though.
Since apartments are pretty much the only investment for private savings, there’s a huge percentage of the GDP tied to construction. This bubble is not quite bursting, but rapidly deflating, leaving many regular people practically without savings.
Other countries have inflated real estate markets as well, but their markets simply are not that large in comparison (percentage of GDP).