There are too many variables in the Shanghai equation to claim a refutation, but since lowering the reliance on rote memorization was specifically mentioned as

There are too many variables in the Shanghai equation to claim a refutation, but since lowering the reliance on rote memorization was specifically mentioned as an improvement that school administrators had made, presumably you and the local school officials see limited benefit in emphasizing rote memorization. As to how the evaluator got to his claim of creative reasoning in the students, the OECD test includes both multiple-choice and open-response questions. Presumably the latter was the basis for the evaluator's assessment.