Maybe they really are smarter than us..... /S
It's not the matter of being smarter. It's the matter of:
In essence, China's hands are not tied, they can do whatever they want, and the government is not required to do a dog and pony show just so a pollster can say how many citizens approve.
With regard to solar, China had a unique experience during "the great leap forward" - backyard furnaces. There were millions of those, all run by novices, using inferior fuel and ore. Of course they produced iron so bad in quality that even a medieval smith would throw it away.
Based on that experience, China appears to prefer large power generation facilities, where equipment can be professionally maintained. China is a large country; it would require millions - if not billions - of residential solar installations. Each such small installation would cost far more per kW than a large plant; in the end, it is not financially effective for powering the whole country. The cost of solar setups should go 10x down before it starts making any sense. But even today the labor of solar installation is about half of the cost, so even if solar panels are free it's still expensive to just install them in the right way. Besides, not every Chinese enjoys a personal home. Many live in apartments, sharing the same small roof.
No. They just don't play stupid games to appease idiots. They are pretty much focused. We're not. We try to appease idiots.