China has no plan for who will succeed Xi Jinping – leaving the nation and the world in uncertainty

Since becoming China's top leader in late 2012, President Xi Jinping has centralized power to the point that it's unclear when he'll step down, or who might succeed him. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images AsiaPac via Getty Images

Since becoming China’s paramount leader in 2012, Xi Jinping has overseen enormous economic growth and solidified China’s standing as an economic and geopolitical superpower. He has also centralized his power over domestic politics. In 2018, Xi oversaw the repeal of the two-term limit on holding presidential office, which has opened a path for him to stay in power after 2023.

Xi is arguably the most powerful leader of China since Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the economic reforms that transformed China from a poor agrarian nation into a major economic powerhouse. Before Xi became the leader of China, the Chinese Communist Party had a system in place for the peaceful transfer of power. This system was, for the most part, adhered to by Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao, the two leaders who preceded Xi in office.