What ‘road warrior’ Xi’s overseas trips reveal about his health

Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on two overseas trips in September 2026. First, he attended the BRICS summit in New Delhi, India, on 12-14 September, and this was followed by an official visit to Washington, DC, on 23 September, lasting less than 48 hours.

Xi’s visit to India, his first in seven years, may be a sign of a thaw in Sino-Indian relations. Interestingly, Xi missed the official dinner on 12 September, which was attended instead by Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Furthermore, during the meetings that day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi twice asked Xi if everything was okay. Some even speculated that he felt unwell and therefore rushed back to China for treatment. This raised concerns about Xi’s health.

Similar concerns were sparked by his staying in the US for less than 48 hours later that month for a state visit in Washington. Neither did Xi stop over in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Some commentators believe he was worried that a longer stay would expose some pre-existing health conditions.

To delve into this further, my team and I analysed news footage of Xi’s visit to India from three broadcasters: India’s Doordarshan (DD), Moscow’s state-owned Russia-1, and China Central Television (CCTV). For example, there is footage of Xi Jinping disembarking from his plane at New Delhi airport on 12 September and leaving the following day, which shows his entire body, including his ankles — one of the most important indicators of health or ageing. 

How anyone descends the steps of a plane reveals a lot about how they have aged, as the knees bear a greater load when descending steps. An unsteady gait is a significant warning sign, which could indicate a neurological disorder or musculoskeletal degeneration. Their steps as they ascend the stairs primarily test their cardiopulmonary function. If Xi Jinping walks continuously, without deviation or pauses, as he ascends the stairs, it means his cardiopulmonary function is relatively healthy.

Telling signs from walking gait

Xi Jinping’s gait on disembarkation in New Delhi on 12 September showed a deterioration in his “gait asymmetry progression”, accompanied by a surge in cadence, short, uneven steps, and loss of rhythmic pattern.

Since Chinese state television is not permitted to show footage of him boarding and disembarking from planes during his domestic travels, we can only use footage from his overseas visits to assess his state of health. When Xi disembarked from his plane on 12 December 2023, during a visit to Vietnam, this was one of the few instances where his ankles were visible in the TV footage. However, on that occasion, he was assisted by his wife, Peng Liyuan, so his gait was more stable. 

Arriving in New Delhi nearly three years later, Xi walked down the steps of the plane on his own. Using computer simulations and after accounting for the assistance of Peng in 2023, we found that the stability of Xi’s gait on 12 September 2026 was inferior to that of three years prior. His steady-state stride asymmetry was 37.90%, indicating severe stress and swaying. The root mean square of his anteroposterior angular acceleration rose to 68.70 deg/s², with a lateral deviation of -2.0378°.

Furthermore, on this trip, Xi exhibited a deterioration in stride symmetry, meaning the difference in stride length between his left and right legs gradually increased. We also observed some symptoms of “circumduction gait” during his descent of the steps on arrival in New Delhi this year, and some indications that his stride symmetry had deteriorated to the point where both feet swung outward in a semicircle. This outward swinging of the foot is a symptom of decreased core muscle control.

Headphones issue

Furthermore, when Modi asked Xi if everything was okay twice during their meeting on 12 September, the footage was not clear. Our analysis revealed that Xi’s emotional response to these two inquiries was predominantly positive, with a confidence level of 93%. The second highest percentage of his emotions was negative, with a confidence level of 87%.

One plausible explanation for Xi’s behaviour on this occasion is that he was dealing with a malfunctioning simultaneous interpretation headset, and Modi may have inquired out of politeness and concern. As for Xi’s absence from the leaders’ dinner that evening, that could have been because of jet lag, rather than any health issue.

Inconclusive: Xi’s steps up and down plane in the US

Footage of Xi disembarking in the US on 23 September and leaving two days later does not show his ankles, making estimations difficult. Only three steps are visible, his stride is extremely short (0.146 m), and he did not enter a continuous steady-state gait cycle; therefore, we cannot effectively calculate values ​​such as steady-state stride asymmetry. However, we can observe that as he descended the steps of the plane, his trunk deflected by an average of -6.0073°, showing a significant backward lean, accompanied by a leftward deviation of -1.0969°. Furthermore, Xi exhibited a relatively high landing acceleration (76.99 deg/s²) as a braking and defensive measure to prevent a fall.

Regarding his ascent of the plane steps on 25 September, we observe that the root mean square of his anterior-posterior angular acceleration increased to 134.38 deg/s² (49.37 deg/s² on the left and right sides), indicating that Xi’s lower limb propulsion was insufficient when he was climbing the steps, so he had to lean backwards.

Overall, Xi was indeed a “road warrior”, making two overseas trips in a single month this year. Of the available footage of the two trips, that of him boarding and disembarking from the plane during his visit to India is particularly valuable, as it is one of the very few occasions on which we see his entire body, including his ankles. Analysis suggests that Xi’s ageing has indeed accelerated in recent years, as evidenced by a significant deterioration in his stride symmetry. 

However, ageing is a normal phenomenon; only an extremely severe deterioration would be a sign of illness, although footage of Xi disembarking on 12 September showed signs of a circumduction gait and frequent small, shuffling steps, indicating potential brain or muscle degeneration. However, his cardiopulmonary function appears to be relatively good.

Footage of Xi’s trip to the US is less relevant because his ankles were not shown on TV. However, we can still see that even with Peng Liyuan’s assistance, his torso shifted and his legs showed weakness. These are all general characteristics of old age. Xi’s leaving the US within 48 hours of arrival may have had nothing to do with his health; it may rather have been that he was eager to return to China to prepare for the Fifth Plenary Session of the CCP’s 20th Central Committee, which will take place on 26-29 October.

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