China official confirms Xi's absence due to "sport injury"

HONG KONG (REUTERS) - China's leader-in-waiting, Mr Xi Jinping, suffered a back injury from sport, a senior Chinese official said, in the clearest explanation so far from a top party insider on the reasons for Mr Xi's recent disappearance from public duty.

In rare on-the-record comments on Vice-President Xi's health, former Hong Kong leader Tung Chee-hwa, now a vice-chairman of a largely ceremonial advisory body for China's parliament, said that Mr Xi had injured his back "I believe from swimming".

"He hurt himself in sports and he's now recovered and he's now back at work," Mr Tung told CNN in an interview broadcast in the United States late on Tuesday.

Mr Tung has deep-rooted ties with China's top leaders and was a key adviser to Mr Xi during his visit to the United States earlier this year.