Bloggers suggested the Beijing leader, 68, prefers traditional medicine.
At the start of the pandemic, China worked to export traditional medicine options for the treatment of Covid. Xi was one of the campaign’s leading advocates.
The premier has reportedly struggled as a wave of ultra-strict Covid lockdowns across China stretch the nation’s economy – and the government’s ability to suppress dissent.
He is thought to have been rushed to hospital late last year after doctors spotted a bulging blood vessel in his brain, news agency ANI reported.
Like Putin, Xi’s health has always been a closely guarded secret.
Addressing a crowd in Shenzhen during the first Covid wave in 2020, observers noted his slow speech and coughing.
While visiting Italy in March 2019, Xi was pictured with a noticeable limp and needing help while trying to sit down.
Last week the Politburo state council warned the public not to rebel against lockdowns.
China’s ‘Zero Covid’ policy has included some of the world’s most draconian social distancing measures including fencing around apartment buildings and metal barriers in the street.
Toddlers have also reportedly been separated from their parents in pursuit of containing the virus.
In Shanghai, images of workers in white hazmat suits sealing entrances of housing blocks and closing off entire streets with green metal cages spread on social media.
Xi reaffirmed his commitment to a ‘zero-COVID’ policy two weeks ago, putting China at odds with much of the world.
While many countries are dropping restrictions and trying to live with the virus, China is keeping its international borders largely shut and closing off entire cities to all but essential travel.
The Chinese Politburo acknowledged the economic cost of lockdowns, saying efforts must be made to ‘minimize the impact of the epidemic on economic and social development,’ the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Despite the toll on the economy and everyday life, the approach is extolled by the Communist Party as a virtuous display of self-sacrifice under the slogan ‘Persistence is victory.’
Though it carefully censors the web, China’s government has also struggled to keep a lid on disaffection with the Zero Covid plan.