China's latest stance on the environment can be called contradictory even for them. A powerful documentary on air pollution, produced with official support, went viral after it was released online only to be blocked and wiped clean on the Chinese Internet by the government days later. Then, President Xi Jinping vowed to punish "violators" who damage the environment "with an iron hand" and Premier Li Keqiang calling pollution "a blight on people's quality of life", and promising significant cuts in emissions.

On Sunday, he ended the meetings with a promise not to end his government's "war on pollution" until it reached its goal, and a pledge that the law would work "as a powerful, effective tool to control pollution - and would not be as soft as a cotton swab."

However, factories, trucks and oil companies have continued to flout environmental regulations and the police have other targets on their mind. On March 6, they arrested and placed in detention for 14 days an activist who posted on social media about a planned gathering of "mothers concerned about the harm of smog."

So with these confusing messages, is the government serious or not? The answers prove to be buried within the complex, many-headed nature of China's communist-run government. While they are obsessed with control and distrust the public, they also recognize that pollution and smog is a huge issue for the urban middle class.

According to Wang Tao of the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy, "The environment ministry certainly wants to get more power, and it can see huge pressure from the public for a better environment," he said. "But there is resistance from vested interests, and a power struggle over who should lead this process, in terms of policies and setting standards."

China burns more coal than the rest of the world combined but even its use of the pollution causing energy source fell by 2.9%. Part of the reason for this is China's economic slowdown, which hit heavy industry and real estate hardest, but the government played a role as well shutting down illegal mines and furnaces and working to cap coal and steel production.

Xi also agreed to a landmark deal with President Obama last November to limit greenhouse gas emissions. The question remains how fast and how far he is prepared to move on the issues raised.

"Xi needs popular support, but he is afraid of the public having real participation," said Xiao, adding, "The party wont let anything generate the public conversation or set the agenda without them driving it," said Xiao Qiang, an adjunct professor at the University of California at Berkeley and founder of the China Digital Times Web site.