In an attempt to give a general but critical review of school-based curriculum development (SBCD) in China's new curriculum reform (NCR), this article discusses at length some issues remaining in SBCD, including misconceptions in Chinese discussions about SBCD, most significantly, the Chinese literal expression of the policy statement on three-level curriculum management and its vague implications for SBCD; the tensions between curriculum reform experts and curriculum scholars; and the chasm between the policy and its practice. The article has three interrelated parts: a text analysis of the policy statement, an argumentation analysis of some illustrative controversial theoretical viewpoints on SBCD, and a practical analysis of the explorations in schools in various areas of China. (Contains 11 notes.)