If Xi looses the “Mandate of Heaven” - then he will be replaced. But this does not happen lightly, just as you say. The Chinese also have a saying, “there will be no revolution in China, so long as the people have rice” - basic necessities. That’s a high bar for change. But we might have passed that bar with the endless Covid restrictions. If China erupts into chaos, who knows what will happen? It will affect us all.