There are unconfirmed rumours that Chinese President Xi Jinping had a stroke

There are unconfirmed rumours on Chinese social media that Chinese leader Xi Jinping suffered a stroke during Third Plenum meetings.

These rumors have gotten some traction so keep an eye on them. That said, these kinds of rumours always seem to perk up, including persistent rumours that Vlad Putin has died.

These reports, evidently originated from a YouTube blog from dissident Jennifer Zeng, who has floated rumours about a coup and Xi’s arrest before. Despite that, they have been doing the rounds in Chinese and Russian social media for a few hours. I’m reluctant to even report on them but there is a chance that Chinese markets move on them.

Back in the world of real news, we’re waiting on news from the Third Plenum and how China can dig its way out of deepening pessimism about economic prospects, especially among young people.

The meetings will end on Thursday with a plan to lay out China’s policy direction for the next five years and beyond.

Yesterday, the IMF upgraded its China forecasts for this year and next year to 5.0% and 4.5% respectively but at the same time, this week’s Q2 GDP data disappointed.

This article was written by Adam Button at www.forexlive.com.