Chinese President Xi Jinping has ambitions to remain in China’s top military post until at least 2027, a Japanese news report said, a move that would coincide with a long-term plan to modernize China’s armed forces by that year.

Xi, also the chairperson of the Central Military Commission which commands the People’s Liberation Army, intends to stay in the post for at least seven more years, The Nikkei newspaper reported, citing an anonymous military source in Beijing.

His intention was supported by a recent long-term plan which aims to achieve China’s goal of building modern armed forces by 2027, by implementing Xi’s ideas on strengthening the military, the report said.

That year also marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, which is an important milestone for China.

The Nikkei quoted former United States national security adviser John Bolton, who recalled in his memoir that Xi told President Donald Trump during a summit meeting in December 2018 that the Chinese leader wanted to work with Trump for six more years.

Xi’s remarks pointed to his ambitions for another five-year term as the Chinese Communist Party leader, after his current tenure expires in 2022, the report said.

Bolton’s account was reinforced by other moves made by Xi in recent months, The Nikkei said, including the party’s announcement in October of its long-term economic goals for 2035. This was the first time in 25 years the party has made such a far-reaching plan.

Chinese media reported in October that the party’s Central Committee issued a set of new work rules for its 200-odd members, requiring them to “firmly safeguard the status of General Secretary Xi Jinping as the core” of the party’s leadership and of the party as a whole.

The Nikkei noted that the Central Committee’s inclusion of Xi’s name in the new rules potentially made it impossible for party members to criticize Xi or object to his leadership.

Back in 2017, a collective leadership system laid down by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping began to erode after Xi implemented new rules to require the 25-member Politburo, the party top decision-making body, to report to Xi annually on its job performance, the report said.

Xi canceled a planned official visit to Japan earlier this year amid the outbreak of COVID-19. The Nikkei said it remained unclear if or when Xi would visit Japan in the future, partly due to objections from within Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

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