Chinese paper faked report to play up President Xi's influence at Davos

Propaganda machines in China, it appears, are going to extreme lengths to promote the thoughts of President Xi Jingping on the issue of future globalisation.

So ingrained is this propaganda, that one recent article published by the state-run China Daily recently, went to the extent of quoting Davos Mayor Tarzisius Caviezel, as saying that China's President had set the agenda for the 2018 World Economic Forum (WEF) last year.

But, it turns out that this is far from the truth.

According to the qz.com web site, Mayor Caviezel's remarks as published in the China Daily story were changed and fabricated, turning (his) true remarks into propaganda.

Mayoral aide Corina Issler Baetschi provided the web site with the correct quotes, and it has been confirmed that what was attributed to Caviezel in the China Daily was something that he had never said.

It is established that those who set the agenda for each year's WEF, decide on their own what the topic will be and how they will expand on it. They may possibly take important points from previous meetings as they did with President Xi's 2017 speech, but develop them into a theme that is entirely unique and separate.

What is important is that they did not just take one point out.

For example, the China Daily article quoted Mayor Caviezel, as saying Xi's visit was "a great time and the most important one" in the last few years of the World Economic Forum, but is actual quote read as follows: "For me personally, President's Xi visit was very exciting and the most important one of the last few years" of the World Economic Forum."

This is not the first time that Chinese media has fabricated or drastically changed their remarks. Experts reveal that in 2015, the China Daily published an op-ed from New Yorker writer Peter Hessler praising the stability of China's political system. Hessler, however, said, he had never written such an opinion piece, and had only accepted to do an interview with the Chinese paper.

Xi became the first Chinese president to attend Davos, and in 2017, positioned himself as globalisation's most vocal champion.

"As long as we keep to the goal of building a community of shared future for mankind and work hand in hand to fulfill our responsibilities and overcome difficulties, we will be able to create a better world and deliver better lives for our peoples," Xi said in his big speech.

Chinese news outlets in recent days have published several articles promoting the belief that the 2018 WEF has been shaped by President Xi, even though he's not there.

Some Chinese media reports say that this year's Davos theme, "Creating a Shared Future in a Fractured World," is based on President Xi's Davos speech last year.

The author of the China Daily article, Fu Jing, has refused to comment further.