It’s a banana republic. Whomever gets military backing is the leader.
Mao died and Deng died, who were Long March veterans.
Deng designated Jiang Zemin and then Hu Jintao as successors.
After that there is no authoritative line of succession. It becomes who can gain power. Xi won first. His position is precarious because there is no system or rule of law.
RE: Mao died and Deng died, who were Long March veterans.
Don’t forget the obscure Hua Guo Feng, who actually replaced Mao as CCP Party chairman before Deng came to power.
I doubt if most young Chinese even remember who he was...