This article argues that action learning has been incorporated into the Chinese administrative system because of a functional need for Western learning technology. This finding contrasts with those presented in the existing literature, which assert that Western practices have only been partially implemented, if implemented at all, because they were selected to serve certain political objectives. Therefore, this paper presents a different picture of Chinese governance, showing that it is not exclusively driven by political considerations but rather respectfully drawn to Western expertise and open to accommodating foreign ideas in order to update existing administrative knowledge. For practitioners, the findings suggest that, if a Western practice can serve major reform objectives and smoothly function within the constraints of the political ideology of the Chinese Communist Party and if its effectiveness is convincingly demonstrated, the practice can be accepted to improve the functioning of the system, and it can thus have a true impact on Chinese administrative governance.