The mystery over the disappearance from public view of the man expected to take over as the next leader of China appears to be over.
Xi Jinping was seen and photographed visiting a Beijing university campus on Saturday - the first time he's been seen since September 1.
Rumours have been swirling about Mr Xi's health. The visit was an effort to dispel concerns over the power transition expected soon in the world's most populous nation.
His appearance coincided with National Science Day in China.
There's been an official silence over Mr Xi's whereabouts for the last two weeks. Mr Xi is currently China's vice president. Now the state news agency Xinhua has released photographs showing Mr Xi looking well and smiling, walking round the university.
A second photograph showed him inspecting ears of corn and talking about the importance of agriculture.
There was wide-spread speculation about what had happened to Mr Xi, fuelled by the Communist Party’s silence on the issue.
Xi has missed a number of key engagements over the last two weeks, including cancelling a meeting with the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her visit to Beijing on September 4.
He also pulled out of a meeting with the Prime Minister of Singapore and a Russian official.
There was widespread speculation over the cause of Mr Xi's disappearance. It ranged from reports he had injured his back whilst swimming to reports he had suffered a strike or a heart attack or was even the victim of an assassination attempt. We still don't know for sure what happened.
Traditionally, the Communist Party has kept quiet over the health of its leaders - long-considered to be a state secret.
Beijing has yet to formally announce a date for the up-coming Communist Party Congress, when Mr Xi is expected to be confirmed as China's next President, replacing Hu Jintau. He won't formally take the reins until March of next year.
But the delay in announcing the Congress date coupled with Mr Xi's disappearance from public view as brought a sense of instability in China - the last thing the Communist Party wants.
It follows months of political intrigue surrounding the party when Bo Xilai the former Party Chief of Chongqing was suspended. He's currently being investigated for 'party indiscretions'. His fate is still unclear. Bo's wife Gu Kailai was given a suspended death sentence for the murder of the British businessman Neil Heywood.
In another scandal earlier this month, a senior ally of President Hu was demoted after claims that his son was killed in a crash involving a luxury sports car.
