The elderly Dalai Lama on Saturday said that he hopes to live for another 40 years until he is about 130 years old, days after he sought to allay speculation over his succession by saying he would reincarnate upon his death.

The Dalai Lama has announced that he intends to reincarnate, paving the way for a successor to take on a mantle stretching back 500 years after his death.

The Dalai Lama has announced that he will have a successor after his death, continuing a centuries-old tradition that has become a flashpoint in the struggle with China’s Communist Party over Tibet’s future.