According to the Chinese constitution he would have been required to retire at the end of his current term, in 2023. However the twice-a-decade meeting of the Communist Party's elite held at the end of November saw Xi break with convention by failing to appoint an heir apparent to the Politburo Standing Committee. In the past, leadership contenders were first given one five-year term in the party's top decision-making body as grooming for the role. This had created speculation Xi may seek to stay on. Xinhua reported on Sunday: "The Communist Party of China Central Committee proposed to remove the expression that the President and Vice President of the People's Republic of China 'shall serve no more than two consecutive terms' from the country's Constitution."

China's annual rubber stamp parliament is due to meet in the first week of March, but most decisions have been made by the Communist Party's elite in a series of meetings before this. Xi has appointed his supporters to the majority of positions in the Politburo Standing Committee. He has overseen a corruption campaign that thas seen senior military figures, as well as potential political rivals, expelled from the party and prosecuted. Richard McGregor, a senior fellow for East Asia at the Lowy Institute, said: "This basically clears the way for Xi to stay in power indefinitely, something that has simmered under the surface for more than a year but which is now starkly out in the open." McGregor said the timing of the move, at the start of Xi's second term as president, was interesting.

"It both reinforces his overwhelming authority over the party and the government, and also sends a warning to his legion of enemies at the top of the party who have been hit by the anti-corruption campaign that he is not going anywhere." McGregor is the author of the book The Party: The secret world of China's communist rulers. The party's Central Committee is due to hold a three-day meeting this week attended by 200 delegates to approve appointments to key new positions in the Chinese government. Xi will be formally reappointed as Chinese president at the National People's Congress, held in the first week of March. Fairfax Media