China made their decision based on the rules of the game, as set by the dominating economic power of the world (i.e. the US). They could've turned down being the world's manufacturer, but they wouldn't have had a clear path to get to where they have come to this point. Now that they have economic power, they're better able to make some changes. Like you pointed out, China is making huge investments in clean energy. Granted, a huge driving force behind that is their lack of domestic petrol production and their desire for energy dependence, but they're still the leader when in comes to investments in clean energy. It's embarrassing how far behind the US is and even more embarrassing when you take that graph from before and adjust it to per-capita emissions. A real letdown from the richest country in the world.