The purpose of the study was to reveal whether and how learner-centered instruction in comparison with traditional teacher-centered instruction might present unique effects on the learning behaviors and academic motivation of Chinese students. Meanwhile, it was also explored how the distinctive instructing features of Chinese teachers assuming the learner-centered approaches in comparison with those teachers in the traditional classroom, might impact on the associations between learner-centered instruction and learning behaviors of Chinese students. Measures assessing the perceived instruction behaviors of teachers and students' learning behaviors and academic motivation were administered to 394 high-school students in the experimental group and 368 high-school students in the control group. The results indicated that the implementation of learner-centered instruction brought certain changes on the instruction behaviors of Chinese teachers, which might have certain beneficial influences on students' learning behaviors inside the classroom but failed to better support students to be autonomous and self-directed learners.