"It's like a horror movie. People like to watch but don't want to be in it," quipped economist Andy Xie about his popular lectures where he predicts a collapse in China's property and stock markets.

The former Morgan Stanley economist is among the more moderate of the bearish voices that have predicted the "China crash" since the late 1990s. The more extreme doom-mongers have been forecasting everything from a property meltdown and debt crisis to full-blown economic recession and even political revolution.

Yet China has consistently defied the odds, projecting itself as a single-party-led export powerhouse with absolute hold over its financial system and a government with deep pockets. Investors have been rewarded with a decade of double-digit economic growth and a property market that has multiplied several times over the years.