Apr 18, 2013
Translated by Pang Lei and Zhang Xiaoxi

Xinhua News Agency has reported that an article about China's president Xi Jinping taking a taxi in Beijing that was published by Hong Kong's Ta Kung Pao (大公报) newspaper is not true.

The article, which featured prominently on all of the major news websites earlier this morning, was based on an interview with a Beijing taxi driver who said that on the evening of Mar 1, 2013 he had given Xi Jinping and one other person a ride in his cab.

The report also included pictures of the taxi driver, a man called Guo Lixin, pointing to a framed piece of paper on which he claimed Xi Jinping had written an inscription.

China Radio International's (CRI) English website translated most of the story into English here. (this link has since been removed).

For more a description of the original article in English, see this piece in The Guardian or the New York Times' reporting on the story.

Links and Sources
Xinhua Official Sina Weibo Account: 香港大公报刊登的《北京的哥奇遇:习总书记坐上了我的车》报道为虚假新闻
Takungbao: 北京“的哥”奇遇：“习总书记坐上了我的车”
CRI: "Taxi, Taxi", for China\'s Xi Jinping