Jason Francis tweeted this earlier this afternoon
I may place some Snooker Legends Shows with Ronnie on 27/28th Oct and 1/2 Nov. Nights can be a private appearance on your home table or at your club for a select few, a theatre show with full arena set up, or a club night with me, ROS and JV. jason@snookerlegends.co.uk
Which means that Ronnie does not intend to play in the International Championship in China.
I may be wrong but, to me, it seems increasingly likely that Ronnie does not plan to have a full season, traveling around the world. He can afford it, of course, his spot at the Crucible is safe, but next season might be a big challenge with a lot of points to defend…
But then of course, last season he won the Grand Prix and the Players Championship. Being the defending champion will not guarantee that he gets a spot in those this season. So, should he want to play in them, he’ll need to do really well in the Home Nations Series and the UK Championship.
That said, except in the Shanghai Masters, he hasn’t really done well in China, so, maybe, this season he wants to focus on the UK events only, and the ones for which he doesn’t need to qualify, something he’d hinted at last season in fact.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Possibly 3 weeks in a row with a professional Snooker?
I except him to play Champion of Champions (5-11 November) and the Northern Ireland Open (12-18 November) and if i’m right there is no reason to travel to China (28 October-4 November) before these 2 UK events.
Last season you can see that 2 weeks in a row with a professional snooker it’s hard for him.
Won UK Championship then lose Scottish Open quarterfinal (unfortunately). (DO you remember the sleeping breaks between 2 frames? https://youtu.be/TXVgKguS4MU?t=32m41s and https://youtu.be/TXVgKguS4MU?t=43m11s)
Won Grand Prix then lose Welsh Open quarterfinal easily (unfortunately).
It’s hard not to be disappointed that Ronnie’s playing so seldom this season, especially with so many records/milestones seemingly within his grasp. I find it particularly surprising that he’s not playing very much, given that he signed up with Sight Right. What was the point of pursuing a new method if he was planning to skip so many tournaments anyway…?
If there’s any silver lining in him playing a light schedule, perhaps it’s that he might have more energy left for the Crucible. (Assuming he’s planning to play the World Championships, which maybe he’s not).
At this point I’m going to assume that he will skip the China Open, which means that his schedule will likely consist of at a minimum:
6 Ranking Events (Home Nations, UK, World Championships)
3 Invitationals (Shanghai, Champion of Champions, Masters)
The World Grand Prix, Players, and Tour Championship are very much in doubt, given that Ronnie’s skipping the big money events…
The point is most certainly to try to get better, and that in itself is a positive. He woildn’t do it if he was planning to hang his cue.
I agree, but why bother betting better if he’s not going to play in tournaments?
In any event, I think your point about Ronnie not having had much success in China (other than Shanghai) is a good one. One of the things Ronnie has said that he doesn’t like about the World Championships is that it’s not worth if for him to invest all of the effort required if he doesn’t end up winning. He might very well be feeling that same way now about the China events: going to China for tournaments is a big investment of time and energy for (what has been so far) very little payoff for him…
The ways things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to skip the Crucible this year in order to film “Australian Hustle” or some other such thing…