Xi Jinping finally appeared on the front lines of China's fight against the Wuhan coronavirus. Here's what that could mean for his response to the crisis.

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Xi Jinping finally appeared on the front lines of China's fight against the Wuhan coronavirus. Here's what that could mean for his response to the crisis.
Xi Jinping

Xinhua via REUTERS

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Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects the novel coronavirus prevention and control work at Anhuali Community in Beijing, China, February 10, 2020.

  • Xi Jinping made his first physical appearance related to the fight against the deadly coronavirus that has killed more than 1,100 people.
  • Messaging about appearance seemed to be tightly controlled and coordinated by the government-controlled media.
  • Xi emerged as tensions over the coronavirus and the government's response continued to boil, and could have been intended as a way to soothe tensions.
  • He also appeared as growth in the number of cases appears to slow, suggesting he may have chosen a time when the government appeared more in control.
  • Johns Hopkins University data showed that the number of cases between February 2 and February 3 on the Chinese mainland rose around 14.5%. Between February 10 and February 11, that growth rate slowed to 4.7%.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Chinese President Xi Jinping finally made an appearance in efforts to fight the country's deadly coronavirus on Monday, a month and a half after the country first identified the new, mysterious virus and after more than 1,100 people have died from it.

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Xi appeared in multiple locations in Beijing dedicated to the control and prevention of the coronavirus, according to footage shared by state media.

In the video Xi, wearing a surgical mask over his nose and mouth, is shown talking to people and having his temperature taken. There is no sound apart from piano music.

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CNN noted that Chinese state media outlets that shared the footage did so with text from the country's official Xinhua news agency rather than writing their own, and noted this was a sign of a tightly controlled message from authorities. Many Chinese media outlets, despite being state-run, pursue their own editorial lines much of the time.

CNN also noted that Xi chose to visit locations in Beijing, where he lives, rather than the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus.

Xi had been noticeably absent from the front lines of the fight against the virus, even as he issued public statements about how the country would come together and fight its spread.

The virus has prompted some internal criticism of China's one-party political system, including renewed calls for greater freedom of speech within the country and anger over what they say was a cover up of the virus in its early days.

wuhan coronavirus

The Central Hospital of Wuhan via Weibo/Reuters

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Medical staff at the Central Hospital of Wuhan.

Xi's appearance this week comes as his government faced more and more pressure over its handling of the virus - but also as the rate at which the number of reported cases is growing is finally starting to slow.

Here's why Xi Jinping may have chosen now to emerge.

Xi had been facing increased pressure to show his face in the fight

Xi sent his right hand man, Premier Li Keqiang, to the front lines instead.

Experts believe Xi may have deliberately stood back to avoid being associated with the virus, protecting himself even if the virus' impact creates anger and harms his party.

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Anger has been spread following events like the death of whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, who died of the virus after treating patients in Februar.

Li had been forced by police to sign a document admitting to "making false comments" after he alerted colleagues to the virus in December.

LI WENLIANGLI WENLIANG/GAN EN FUND via REUTERS

Li Wenliang wears a respirator mask, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Wuhan, China, February 3, 2020.

But now that anger has started to put increased pressure on the political system, including motivating hundreds to sign an online petition calling for freedom of speech rights, according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

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Its possible that this anger had reached a boiling point, and that Xi needed to show his face as a sign that he was involved in the fight.

Xi showed his face as the growth in the number of cases slows

Xi's appearance in Beijing on Monday came as the growth in the number of cases being reported in China appeared to slow.

A graph of cases reported by China compiled by Johns Hopkins University showed that the number of cases appeared to slow at the end of the last week and level off over the weekend.

As an example, Johns Hopkins' data showed that the number of cases between February 2 and February 3 on the Chinese mainland rose around 14.5%. Between February 10 and February 11, that growth rate slowed to 4.7%.

Simon Rabinovitch, The Economist's Asia economics editor, posited that Xi could have timed his appearance to coincide with the point at which China felt more confident in its ability to control the virus.

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There is, however, some doubt over China's figures, as the health system in Wuhan is overwhelmed.

And even if the growth of the virus is slowing, the number of cases continues to grow every day, with more than 44,000 cases recorded in China as of Wednesday, and at least 175 in other countries around the world, mostly in Asia but also Europe, Australia, and North America.

There is also no guarantee that this leveling off cases will lead to a drop in the number of cases. Some countries' health ministers are warning of the worse still to come.

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