It appears people were also concerned that Putin was not seen after their meeting. Now it seems he was holed up in his luxury dasha, and perhaps hobnobbing with the head of Belarus trying to convince him to join the war. Perhaps Xi was doing something similar, and perhaps communing with Putin on secure communication lines away from public scrutiny. We will probably get signs in a few days or weeks. Interested to see what happens mid October at the Chinese CCP annual meeting to reafirm Xi, or not.
There are those in China who think Xi’s days are over, and that he should NOT get a third term.