Adding to this problem are some other dangerous short-term factors that are hastening a reckoning:

1. This debt is denominated in dollars and the RMB is falling.
2. China is pledging huge grants (denominated in dollars) for its "Belt and Road" plan, and then failing to deliver in many cases.
3. This article only discusses China's national debt, but the provincial debts are often even worse.
4. The Central Government continues to order banks to provide loans they cannot afford (under the auspices of Belt and Road) for non-performing projects.
5. And need we mention that their export-driven economy is suffering badly from the sudden withdrawal of their biggest customer, the US (who accounts for more than 50% of their exports)?

China has attempted to solve the demographic crisis by changing the 1 Child policy to a 2 child policy, but many couples are shrugging and saying "it's too expensive to have another child." The government has floated the idea of imposing a heavy tax on couples who have not yet "fulfilled their patriotic duty" of having two children. This added burden upon couples who are already stretched thin taking care of eight grandparents (four per person) who are aging in a society not known for the quality or affordability of its healthcare, and where social security does not exist (due to the expectation that the children will always take care of the aged, an expectation dating back to times when a person could expect to have ten to fifteen grandchildren), would result in an already-declining personal asset growth rate probably collapsing altogether.

For decades, the world has been drooling over China's rise while a few bears were saying "hold on a sec," only to be laughed at by the international community. Now, as the PRC enters a death-spiral, people are starting to realize the bears were right.