The first formal Sino-Japanese summit since 2011 will be held Friday. Over the last seven years, President Xi Jinping has consolidated his position at the apex of power in China by ending term limits, installing Xi Jinping Thought into the CCP's constitution, and pushing forward with his signature policy, the "Belt and Road" initiative.
Importantly, he has also placed himself at the head of the most important Leading Study Groups and holds the key titles of chairman of the military commission, the president of China and the general secretary of the Communist Party of China.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has similarly consolidated his position by being elected for a third time as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, putting him on course to become Japan's longest-serving prime minister. Through his tenure, he has won four elections, passed collective self-defense legislation and presided over a sustained economic growth cycle executed under the rubric of Abenomics.