China had London's Great Smog of 1952 situation in big cities but they are doing massive turnaround.
Chinese electricity production was 81% coal in 2007, 75% in 2013 and something like 55% today. EV's are 37% of cars sold (more in the cities). China has huge lead in solar panels and battery technology.
China is building more modern coal plants, but they are fired less often and are used only to match energy reliability goals because solar can't do 24/7 and nuclear plants take time to build.
China does not have similar coordination problems as democracies, so they can do 180 degree when the top guy sees the problem.