China is arguably the world’s second most powerful country, and its leader, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping, plays a major role in many of its economic and military decisions. So, with no heir apparent, what happens to China when Xi dies?

Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Peter Zeihan answers this question and explains why China’s geography and political system make it so challenging to govern.

Excerpted from Peter’s July 9 “Zeihan on Geopolitics” newsletter:

I get a lot of “what if…” and “what happens next…” style questions and most of them suck, but today’s question takes us down a fairly interesting rabbit hole — what happens to China if Chairman Xi Jinping dies or steps down?

Remember, I didn’t say that this rabbit hole was going to be a happy one, just that it was interesting. So instead of the headlines reading “China Flourishes Following the Death of Xi Jinping,” I would expect something more along the lines of “China Moves One Step Closer to Collapse.”

Between the gutted political system that Xi would leave in his wake and a faltering economy, China wouldn’t exactly be set up for success. The Chinese would likely have to scrap their current state structure and develop an entirely new system.

The bottom line is that Xi Jinping has caused plenty of problems during his time leading the country, but removing him from the picture isn’t going to magically solve those problems overnight.