It won't work long for the elite and educated people, but for the masses, especially the uneducated one, it will still leave impression. Just like hoax news can influence significant proportion of people. As long as there are people who buy it, it is already considered a success.
Most people don't really care if the negative news about China is true or not, even if it isn't true, they will move on, but the negative impression will linger. The more negative news out there about China, the more reinforced their negative perception on China. It maybe has trifle effect, but if you accumulate it, even a drop of water could be a lake someday.