Mr Ma is certain to run for the chairmanship in an election to be held on July 26, the Chinese-language Liberty Times reported.

Mr Wu told reporters on Sunday that he would not run again after his tenure expires in September, which would leave Ma unchallenged for the post. 'I want to help him get re-elected in the 2012 presidential polls,' Mr Wu said, dismissing claims that he hopes to swap party leadership for a government job.

Presidential office spokesman Eddy Tsai declined to comment on the report, saying Mr Ma would brief the media on the issue only after the party begins to consider applications for its chairmanship on June 15.

Observers say that if elected to its leadership, Mr Ma would have greater power from within the party than before and find it easier to push through government policies in a parliament dominated by the Kuomintang.

Mr Wu visited Beijing for the first time as party chief in May last year, when he met China's President Hu Jintao and built on historic agreements reached in 2005 between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, its former arch foe.

In 2005, Mr Wu's predecessor, Lien Chan, became the first Kuomintang leader to visit the mainland since the civil war ended in 1949. During that trip he also met Mr Hu and formally ended his party's hostilities with the communists.

Ties between China and Taiwan, which split in 1949, have improved dramatically since Ma of the China-friendly Kuomintang came to power last May.

The two sides have signed a raft of agreements that have led to regular direct flights and greater cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.

Mr Ma's predecessor as president, Chen Shui-bian, frequently irked China with his pro-independence rhetoric. Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. -- AFP