(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting a province that the ruling Communist Party treats with reverence for historical reasons, a move signaling efforts to rally political support before he seeks to extend his time in office.
Xi visited the Yangjiagou revolutionary site as part of a tour of Shaanxi province this week, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Tuesday. Former Chinese leader Mao Zedong held a meeting in the area in 1947 that discussed the state of the party, which was attended by Xi's father.
Xi also visited Suide county, where his parents met while working for the party as it fought the civil war. Xi “conducted field research on local efforts in carrying forward the Party's glorious traditions and fine style of work,” the news agency said.
China's ruling party is expected to give Xi, 68, a third five-year term when it holds a twice-a-decade congress next year. In 2018, the nation's parliament voted to repeal presidential term limits, allowing him to keep power indefinitely in a break from succession rules set up after Mao's turbulent rule.
Shaanxi province, in northwest China, is dotted with tourist sites commemorating key points in the early history of the Communist Party. The party famously regrouped around Yan'an after its Long March away from attacking Nationalist forces during the civil war that ended in 1949 with the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Tourists in Mao suits now flock to humble dwellings where figures like Mao and former Premier Zhou Enlai lived during the period. A village near Yan'an where Xi worked during the Cultural Revolution also attracts about a million visitors a year, according to local officials.
While on his tour of Shaanxi, Xi will attend the opening of the National Games on Wednesday in Xi'an, state media outlet CGTN reported.
Xi also called for steps to transform the coal energy sector at an appearance Tuesday in Yulin city, Xinhua said in a separate report. Local authorities in China continue to approve major new coal power plants even as Xi pledges to begin reducing coal consumption from 2026.
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With assistance from Bloomberg
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