Whoever came up with that has not let the facts get in the way of a good story... e.g., 564 / 28605 = 1.97%; 170 / 7821 = 2.17%.
However, I completely agree there is something going on with the numbers China is releasing. They are definitely “massaging†the numbers. The unknown is if they are being manipulated just a little bit (e.g., smoothing the incremental numbers to reflect operational cut-off points etc.), or if they are a long way from reality. There is enough anecdotal evidence out there to believe the latter if you want, and of course it is something China does all the time so it would not be out of character.
Personally though, I think the China statistics on the virus are likely not too far from the truth. What makes me say this is that the virus has not spread at the same pace in places like HK and elsewhere in Asia, and even some other provinces in China. It seems very evident there was an outbreak in Wuhan that was left unchecked for a period of weeks, which is why it got so out of control there. This has spilled over into other parts of China to varying degrees.