Primary and secondary schools in China are allowed to develop part of the curriculum themselves. Chinese universities cooperate with partner schools in school-based curriculum development (SBCD). SLO and Leiden University support curriculum development in Gansu province. It has proved to be an interesting trajectory for the schools and the university in China, as it has for the Dutch partners. SBCD surfaces as a container concept which may mean different things to different schools. A city school carried out research on the motivation of students, a town school developed a curriculum introducing local traditional crafts to their students and a rural school brought the school environment into the curriculum. In all cases, school leadership and the rapport between the teachers involved were instrumental for the success of the activities. The role of the Chinese university was to stimulate the debate, to provide theoretical insights supporting the issues under discussion, to provide the necessary skills for the schools to carry out their projects, and to carry out research on the effectiveness of the school-based activities. The paper will elaborate on the activities developed by schools, the role of the university, and the results (effectiveness) of this form of SBCD.