(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting a province central to the history of the ruling Communist Party, a move that comes before political events he may use 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 on the state of the party, which was then fighting a civil war.

Xi also visited Suide county, where his father met his mother while working as a party official. 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 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 Xi to keep power indefinitely in a break from succession rules set up after Mao’s turbulent rule.

During his trip to Shaanxi, Xi also called for steps to transform the coal energy sector. 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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