In the mid-1970s, the introduction of phenomenology and critical theory accelerated the paradigm transition of development communication. With the changing of sponsorship and concern, the foci of development communication researches transferred from individual change to social change, from information diffusion to citizen participation, and pays more emphasizes on community than nation-state and the world. Power issue appears and comes to the center, which shows the integration of strategies both at practical and theoretical dimension. Under this circumstance, action research might be the orientation of development communication researches and practices in China.