Abstract:Two-hundred and thirty Chinese students enrolled in grades 10 and 11 were surveyed to compare their mathematics beliefs with American students by using a questionnaire developed by Schoenfeld. The overall findings indicate that there are culture-based differences in the mathematics beliefs between the two countries. The findings show what the most salient different mathematics beliefs are and why these beliefs account for causal value-laden relationships between achievement and culture-bound factors. There exist underlying cultural traditions which propose a causal model of mathematics beliefs as a possible explanation of the performance differences which exist in students of the two countries.