Since the introduction of the action research into China in the 1980s, especially since the start of the twenty-first century, Chinese education researchers have been trying to localize it in relation to the backdrop of the national curriculum reform in basic education. This article presents three cases in which educators aimed for a conscious adaptation of education action research and which have been very influential in China. They provide a snapshot of the Chinese localization of action research. In the first case, the "Qingpu education experiment," there was an emphasis on supporting practitioners' own in-depth rational thinking. In the second example, there was a focus on cooperative educational action research involving university faculty and school teachers, with a focus on improving teachers' classroom performance. The final case, 'New basic education,' emphasized a conception of action research in which "theory comes first." It is argued that these and other cases where Chinese educators have adapted global models of action research to suit local circumstances are significant for China, which is currently in a period of significant school transformation and social transition. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)