Understandings of Time

A Chinese official was talking to a friend of my bosses and says, "Yea we'd like to get an aircraft carrier."
The other guys says, "Oh yea? When are you thinking about doing that."
The Chinese official says, "Sometime in the short term. Ya know, by 2050."

2050? Short term!? I thought this was a really intersting perspective on how an ancient civilization understands time. It's certainly outside of my capacity.