Xi Jinping said to be 'unwell' as no-shows set off rumours

China’s top leader-in-waiting Xi Jinping, who has set off a storm of rumours after not showing up at scheduled public events for more than a week, is nursing an ailment, possibly a back injury suffered while swimming, sources said on Tuesday.

Xi, who is due to take over the presidency in March next year, has skipped several meetings with visiting foreign leaders and dignitaries over the past week, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the prime ministers of Singapore and Denmark.

China’s government, however, has declined to spell out what is ailing Xi, 59 – in keeping with decades of official secrecy over the health of senior leaders, a tradition viewed in the West as out of step with a modern state and emerging superpower.

“Xi injured his back when he went for his daily swim,” a source close to the Beijing leadership said after Xi’s absence from the public stage was first noticed last week. At that stage, he had failed to keep scheduled meetings with Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

The source declined to give further details on the injury, including exactly when and where the incident took place.

Another source also said the injury happened when Xi went swimming. “Xi pulled a [back] muscle when he went swimming,” the source said.