Participatory Rural Development approach was introduced as a new thinking and model in development in China in the early 1990s It brings challenges to the mainstream top-down approach in the development field The development workers, researchers and administrators in China gradually accepted and adopted the participatory development approach However, more practice and research are needed to apply this new approach and methodology in the context of China This paper will discuss the preconditions, strengths and limitations of participatory approach It also points out that the more opportunities for local people to participate in all stages of the project - in decision-making, implementation, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation, the more successful the project will be Participatory Rural Development approach was introduced as a new thinking and model in development in China in the early 1990s It brings challenges to the mainstream top of the development field, researchers and administrators in China gradually accepted and adopted the participatory development approach However, more practice and research are needed to apply this new approach and methodology in the context of China This paper will discuss the preconditions, strengths and limitations of participatory approach It also points out that the more opportunities for local people to participate in all stages of the project - in decision-making, implementation, maintenance, monitoring and evaluation, the more successful the project will be