I envisioned a scenario of some "backroom deal" at a great public expense, and indeed something like that did happen.

It didn't work. Well in a sense, there were giant bailouts, but that only fired up the furnace, and even more "stealth debt" entered the economy.

China has a few thousands more of Evergrandes, and HNAs lined up.

I bet it will never be fixed within the lifetime of regime, even at the expense of its interest in self-preservation.

And it's because Evergrandes, and HNAs are largely CPC's own making — these companies are the biggest sources of income for local governments, and families of high rank communists: defraud lenders, buy overpriced land from local governments, and hide it super duper well, so your mountain of debt turns into asset, seemingly legitely enriching kids of party members on your board.

It's a very strange scheme of state authorised credit fraud on a nation scale.