Xi's wife, Peng Liyuan, was once a popular folk singer more famous than her husband, and in contrast to her predecessors she has taken on a much more public role, prominently joining her husband on trips abroad as part of China's soft power push to seek global status commensurate with its economic might.
Propaganda officials have built the image of Xi and his wife as a loving couple. Photos of Xi shielding his wife from rain on a state visit, picking flowers for her, or simply holding her hand have circulated widely on China's social media, prompting much oohing and aahing.
"When the president personally held up the umbrella for the madam, it complies with the international norm of respecting women," blogger Luo Qingxue wrote on the news site for the party-run newspaper People's Daily last year after Xi was seen holding an umbrella over himself and Peng on a state visit to Trinidad and Tobago.
But Putin messed up the script Monday night while Xi chatted with the American president.
In the video, Peng stood up, politely accepted the gray shawl or blanket offered by Putin, and thanked him with a slight bow. But she soon slipped it off and put on a black coat offered by her own attendant.
It spawned a flurry of commentary on China's social media before censors began removing any mention of the incident.
Li Xin, director of Russian and central Asian studies at Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said Putin was just being a proper Russian and did nothing out-of-line diplomatically.
"It's a tradition in Russia for a man of dignity to respect ladies on public occasions, and in a cold country like Russia, it is very normal that a gentleman should help ladies take on and off their coats," Li said. "But the Chinese may not be accustomed to that."
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