Xi jinping’s successors

In spite of its strong appearance, the era of Xi Jinping will eventually come to a close. Conceivably, there are four possibilities for the ending date of the era of Xi Jinping: 2022–23; 2027–28; 2032–33; or the death of Xi Jinping. Naturally, the end of the Xi Jinping era will be the beginning of the post-Xi Jinping era. There are at least four scenarios that mark the dawn of the post-Xi era. Identifying Xi Jinping’s successors in the first scenario is the easiest and most straightforward if the principles of political institutionalisation are followed. The second scenario conceives a two-stage succession, which facilitates the identification of successors if Xi is believed to retire after his third term. It is difficult to speculate who would succeed Xi for the third scenario after Xi would have been in power for 20 years. It is the most difficult to discuss Xi’s political successors for the fourth scenario if Xi refuses to relinquish his power until his death.