Who reads China Daily? Resident diplomats and English language students. It is a vanity and propaganda publication.

Quite regularly foreign country dignitaries like ambassadors publish self-praises and praises of their China relationship in that fish & chips wrapping paper.

Sometimes it is the PRC government that takes the initiative to insert features about certain countries or interviews with dignitaries on the question why-oh-why they are just so fabulous and China is so important.

Whatever the cases, contents are heavily edited by both sides. The current "censorship" is just cooked up from actually regular procedures.