Xi Jinping’s Health Questioned During BRICS Summit in New Delhi
Questions about Xi Jinping’s health emerged during the BRICS Summit in New Delhi after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefly interrupted his opening remarks on September 12 to ask Xi twice, “Is it OK?” Footage broadcast by India’s Doordarshan showed a staff member approaching Xi and handing him something, although it was unclear what had happened. The incident nevertheless triggered online speculation about Xi’s health. Some Indian media reports offered an alternative explanation, suggesting that it could have been related to a microphone or translation issue.
Independent commentator Xiang Yang made another observation, saying that Xi appeared to have difficulty walking up the aircraft stairs when leaving India. He described Xi as showing apparent weakness on the left side of his body. Xiang speculated that this could indicate damage to the right side of the brain, which controls movement on the left side of the body. This was Xiang Yang’s speculation and has not been medically confirmed.
Source: Epoch Times, September 14, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/14/n14849131.htm
Modi Targets China’s Trade Practices in Push for Greater BRICS Market Access
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on BRICS members to reduce trade barriers, expand market access, and strengthen supply-chain stability at the BRICS Business Forum in New Delhi on September 11. He said that over the past 12 years, India has focused on resilience, innovation, cooperation, and sustainable development in its economic and trade policies, while seeking to diversify and strengthen supply chains in areas including energy and technology.
Modi said that as global trade barriers increase, India is “building economic bridges,” noting that it has reached or advanced free-trade agreements with about 40 countries since 2014. He urged the BRICS Business Council to identify and address 10 major trade barriers among member countries, help 100 BRICS startups enter other BRICS markets each year, and promote 1,000 new business partnerships among BRICS companies.
Indian media linked Modi’s remarks to longstanding trade and supply-chain issues between India and China. The Times of India reported that Modi’s push to expand intra-BRICS trade also reflected India’s calls for greater Chinese market access for Indian goods and for China to avoid “weaponizing” supplies of equipment and raw materials needed by Indian manufacturers. Although India-China economic ties have recently improved, market access, trade imbalances, and supply-chain issues remain areas of concern. Reuters reported that bilateral trade reached $155.6 billion in 2025, with India importing about $132 billion from China and running a trade deficit of more than $100 billion.
Source: Epoch Times, September 13, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/13/n14848562.htm
Xinhua: China Coast Guard Conducts Routine Patrols East of Taiwan
China Coast Guard spokesperson Jiang Lue said that on September 3, the Putuoshan ship formation conducted a routine law-enforcement patrol in waters east of China’s Taiwan Island. Since August, the formation has intensified patrols and maritime control in the area to safeguard normal navigation and operational order and protect the lawful rights, interests, lives, and property of Chinese citizens, including Taiwan residents.
The China Coast Guard said it will continue to strengthen law-enforcement patrols in waters under China’s jurisdiction and firmly safeguard China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
Source: Xinhua, September 3, 2026
https://www.news.cn/20260903/7b7a76a884d44f6d8b89e3aa81d074c8/c.html
Philippines’ Defense Chief Tells China: “Have Some Sense of Shame” at Seoul Forum
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro publicly rebuked a Chinese delegate during the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8, after being handed a note challenging the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling while he was speaking on stage.
According to The Manila Times, an unidentified Chinese representative passed Teodoro a note during the plenary session asserting that the 2016 ruling “violates fundamental principles of international law” and calling it “illegal, null, and void.”
The Philippines brought its South China Sea dispute with China to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2013. In July 2016, the tribunal ruled that China’s nine-dash line (now ten-dash line) had no basis under international law, and that the Philippines was entitled to exclusive rights over resources in its exclusive economic zone. China has never accepted or recognized the ruling.
Responding on stage, Teodoro said that if the note reflected China’s official position, it showed disrespect not only for international law and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, but also for South Korea as host and for the basic courtesy owed to other participants. He questioned whether the note was an appropriate document to hand him while he was mid-session answering questions.
Teodoro added that China should show “basic courtesy and decorum,” using a Filipino phrase to tell Beijing to have some manners, some sense of shame. His remarks drew applause from the audience.
He went on to reaffirm that the Philippines would not compromise on territorial integrity and sovereignty, would resist aggression from any state, and would continue defending international law while modernizing its military and deepening defense partnerships with like-minded countries.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 9, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aopl/202609090002.aspx
China Passes Medical Security Law; Expert Offers Analysis on Implementation
China’s legislature passed the Medical Security Law of the People’s Republic of China on August 28, which will take effect on January 1, 2027. Lou Yu, Director of the Center for Social Law and Social Policy Studies at China University of Political Science and Law, has closely followed the legislation and offered professional analysis and recommendations throughout the legislative process. In a recent interview with Economic Observer, Lou discussed how he believes the law will affect China’s medical insurance system and what reforms may follow.
According to Lou, the law changes the wording on medical insurance participation for several groups. While the Social Insurance Law—a separate law—states that flexible workers “may” participate in employee medical insurance, the new law “encourages” such participation, potentially paving the way for future policy or fiscal incentives. It also stipulates that citizens who are not enrolled in employee medical insurance or covered by other medical security programs “shall” participate in basic medical insurance for urban and rural residents, replacing the previous voluntary approach.
Lou noted that the law also states that citizens have a legal obligation to participate in basic medical insurance. However, it does not specify corresponding penalties for residents who fail to enroll, meaning the provision currently has more of a declaratory than enforceable function. In his view, authorities may eventually introduce measures to increase or require participation. For workers with sufficient income but no stable employment relationship, one possibility would be to calculate insurance contributions based on their income and require enrollment above a certain threshold. For people without sufficient income, government subsidies could continue to support enrollment in resident medical insurance.
Source: Economic Observer, September 4, 2026
https://www.eeo.com.cn/2026/0904/1024337.shtml
Saudi AI Company Launches Arabic Large Language Model Developed by China’s MiniMax
Xinhua reported that Saudi Arabian AI company Humain announced on September 3 the launch of humain-m3, a frontier Arabic large language model developed with assistance from Chinese AI company MiniMax.
According to Humain, humain-m3 is based on MiniMax’s M3 model and is a mixture-of-experts model with 428 billion parameters. It underwent additional pretraining using more than 1 trillion tokens of native Arabic content. In seven publicly available Arabic-language benchmark tests, humain-m3 achieved the highest average score among the frontier models evaluated, demonstrating strong Arabic-language understanding and reasoning capabilities.
Source: Xinhua, September 4, 2026
https://www.news.cn/world/20260904/f56eee960f7645d9adb6fc0c884bf9cb/c.html
China Accelerates Local Government Debt Restructuring and LGFV Exit
China’s latest round of local government debt restructuring, launched in 2024, is centered on replacing high-interest, short-term hidden debt with lower-interest, longer-term local government bonds. In November 2024, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an announced a RMB 6 trillion (US$890 billion) debt ceiling for replacing existing hidden local government debt, to be implemented over three years at RMB 2 trillion annually from 2024 to 2026. A report released by the National People’s Congress Standing Committee on August 25 showed that RMB 5.73 trillion of the bonds had been issued by the end of July 2026, with the program expected to save about RMB 600 billion in cumulative interest expenses.
Local governments previously relied on local government financing vehicles (LGFVs) to fund infrastructure projects because of restrictions on official borrowing quotas. Many LGFVs raised funds through bank loans or bond issuance, using assets such as land as collateral. However, the property market downturn reduced land prices and land-sale revenues, putting pressure on LGFV assets and cash flows and exposing accumulated local government debt risks.
In late August, authorities issued a notice requiring local financing platforms to exit the government financing platform system by the end of June 2027. According to Securities Times, platforms must meet three conditions to exit: eliminate hidden debt, sever government financing functions and become independently operated market entities, and either clear their operating financial debt or obtain approval from creditors holding at least two-thirds of the financial debt.
The transition has accelerated. More than 82 percent of financing platforms had reportedly exited by the end of 2025, while 226 additional LGFVs announced exits in 2026. However, some experts noted that certain platforms had completed only procedural exits through renaming, mergers, or debt swaps, without developing independent market-based businesses or sustainable profitability. After an LGFV exits, its debt becomes local governments’ official debt.
For China’s local governments, an immediate challenge will be how to raise funds for infrastructure and other investments after losing LGFVs as a major financing channel.
Source: Epoch Times, September 6, 2026
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/26/9/5/n14843523.htm
China’s Credit Card Numbers Keep Falling Despite New Interest Subsidies
China’s central bank has rolled out fresh incentives to boost consumer spending, including subsidies on interest for credit card installment payments. Yet newly released data show the number of credit cards in circulation continues to shrink.
According to the People’s Bank of China’s latest payment system report, the combined total of credit and debit cards nationwide stood at 677 million by the end of the second quarter of 2026 — down 10 million from the first quarter. The figure has now declined for 15 consecutive quarters, falling by 130 million cards from its peak of 807 million at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
Mainland media outlet Economic Daily attributes the drop to the rise of mobile payments and online credit. Where consumers once relied almost exclusively on credit cards for small transactions and everyday spending, apps like WeChat Pay and Alipay, along with lightweight credit tools such as Huabei and Baitiao, now integrate seamlessly into online shopping, food delivery, and ride-hailing — requiring no in-person application or approval wait. Analysts say this convenience has outpaced the traditional, paperwork-heavy credit card.
There has also been a cultural shift: overspending and buying on credit, once seen as markers of a better lifestyle, have fallen out of favor as many younger consumers grow wary of taking on debt.
To stimulate spending, Beijing began subsidizing interest on personal consumption loans last September, initially excluding credit cards. In January, credit card installment billing was added to the subsidy program, and its scope was expanded further in August. Under the policy, any credit card installment purchase now qualifies for interest subsidies, capped at 5,000 yuan (approximately US$745) per borrower, per lending institution, per year.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), September 8, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202609080100.aspx