China's Vice-President Xi Jinping will attend a China-Asean trade event,
state media say, after emerging from an unexplained two-week absence.
Mr Xi, tipped to become China's
next leader, appeared in public on Saturday.
His failure to attend a series of
meetings with foreign figures had fuelled feverish speculation over his health
and a potential power struggle.
China is due to hold a party
congress next month that will see major changes in the top echelons of
leadership.
However, no date has been set for
the meeting, which is being watched closely.
Mr Xi will attend the opening
ceremony and ''some other important activities'' of the 9th China-Asean expo in
the southern city of Nanning later this month, Xinhua news agency reported.
It is not clear if Mr Xi will be
meeting leaders from the 10-nation regional bloc who will be at the event from
21 to 25 September. Burmese President Thein Sein is among those scheduled to
attend.
Rumours and speculation
Mr Xi cancelled meetings with
four foreign dignitaries visiting China in the past fortnight, including US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The uncharacteristic move in a
country highly conscious of protocol sparked off a series of rumours over the
state of Mr Xi's health, with suggestions ranging from a back injury to more
serious conditions.
His ''disappearance'' and the
lack of an official statement, coupled with there being no clear date for the
party congress, also prompted speculation of a power struggle within the Communist
party.
Some analysts said that some of
the seats on the nine-strong politburo Standing Committee could still have been
unallocated.
There have also been suggestions
that the number of seats for the top leadership ranks may be reduced from the
current nine to seven.
On Saturday, China's official
news agency carried a brief report of Mr Xi's visit to the China Agricultural
University in Beijing with a photograph showing the vice-president smiling and
walking with other officials.
On Thursday, Mr Xi was cited in
state media for the first time in 12 days, expressing condolences over the
death of a former general.
During his absence, searches for
Mr Xi's name on China's Twitter-like weibo micro-blogging sites were blocked.
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