Between the founding of new China and 1978, public higher learning institutions as subordinators to governmental branches enjoyed no autonomy in distribution and use of personnel, finance and material. Since 1978, however, schoolrunning autonomy of higher learning institutions was imposed and has been gradually extended. In 1998, when the Statute of Higher Education of the People’s Republic of China was issued, government’s limits of authority and seven autonomous rights of higher learning institutions were first clearly prescribed in law, which established the legal basis for higher learning institutions to run schools in society as independent corporations. Therefore, the aims of reforming the administrative system of colleges and universities in the days to come are to differentiate the respective limits of authority between universities and government branches and seek a necessary balance between government’s control and university’s autonomy to further practice and enlarge the schoolrunning autonomy of higher learning institutions.

public higher learning institution; schoolrunning autonomy; higher education