Yet if the debt hanging over China’s economy limits the potency of the government’s response, that could bring about the worst fears — a plunge in housing prices, followed by expensive rescues of strapped lenders, and an unruly exodus of money.
That outcome most unnerves government officials, given that it could bring joblessness, business insolvencies and social strife.
Such images undergird the assumption that the government will intensify its efforts to stimulate the economy, even as doing so may exacerbate the foundational threats to the economy, creating fresh debts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/business/china-economy-trade-deflation.html