[trailingComma]

You have been hearing predictions about what might happen to China in the future for 20 years, if the nation grows too quickly in the wrong ways and doesn't solve it's impending demographic problems.

The article is saying 'China peaked in 2021 and the past two years have been a zombie economy'. It's not talking about what might happen, but about what has already happened and why the state has been hyper-focusing on security and military competition with the west for the last couple of years.