"Their fall will make a recession unavoidable," said Juan Orts, China economist at Fathom Consulting.

"We think that this is a price that Beijing is not willing to pay," said Orts, who sees China heading towards "Japanification," which refers to Tokyo's "lost decades" of economic stagnation since the 1990s.

Juan Orts, China economist at Fathom Consulting, said boosting consumer demand might redirect resources away from supporting manufacturing exporters, which partly explains hesitance towards such reforms.

"We don't think authorities will commit to that path," said Orts, describing it as "the way out" of economic doldrums.

Eric W. Orts Philadelphia The writer is a professor of legal studies and business ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.