China's stance on environmental reporting

As was recently noted, China is now asking international diplomatic services from publishing their air quality reports. This is because on days when Chinese reports typically express that air quality is high, US reports are not as sunny.

Looking at it from the perspective of trying to create credibility, I'm really wondering what the Chinese government is thinking. While they've managed to keep a pretty tight clamp on information in the Information Age, the genie is seeping out of the bottle, isn't it?