Introduction: According to Cognitive Evaluation Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985, 1991; Ryan & Deci, 2000), through satisfying the needs for competence, autonomy and relatedness, intrinsic motivation can be enhanced. Hence, class climate that supports fulfilling these three needs should be developed. Much support exists for this view in general as well as in sport and exercise contexts (Vallerand, 2001) but no systematic research has been conducted in Chinese participants in the context of physical education (PE). This study tested the hypothesis that "emphasis on improvement", "perception of choice" and "cooperative learning" affect "perceived competence", "autonomy" and "relatedness" that in turn affect intrinsic motivation. The study would contribute to extending the Cognitive Evaluation Theory and provide important guidelines to inform physical educators on how to structure their PE programmes. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed for completion by 1200 Hong Kong Chinese Grades 8, 10 and 12 students of 20 schools (number of males and females were the same in each grade). An a priori structural equation model that specified the relationships among the aforementioned class climate, psychological needs and intrinsic motivation variables was tested. Results: It was found that "cooperative learning climate" promoted perceived "competence" and "relatedness" that in turn enhanced "intrinsic motivation" in secondary school PE class (CFI=.99, RMSEA=.06, c2=177.52, df=6). Comparing the effect of psychological needs on "intrinsic motivation", perceived "competence" was found to be the strongest (path coefficient=.44), "autonomy" was the weakest (path coefficient=.17) and "relatedness" was in between (path coefficient=.20). "Cooperative learning" and "choices" increased perceived "competence", "autonomy" and "relatedness". Unexpectedly, an "emphasis on improvement" did not enhance perceived "competence", "autonomy" and "relatedness". Conclusion: The mediation role of fulfilling psychological needs in between class climate and intrinsic motivation was confirmed. However, the relative importance of fulfilling different needs was unlike that reported in previous studies (Deci & Ryan, 2000) - autonomy was not that important as reflected in this study. It is not clear whether the findings were only case-specific or did reflect the characteristics of Chinese participants who are likely to be less demanding for autonomy. There seems to be a need to reconsider the issue from an indigenous perspective that requires us to take a sympathetic understanding of the nature of Chinese achievement motivation which is to a large extent social-oriented (Si & Chung, 2001, Yu, 1996).Keyword(s): active participation, middle school issues