ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the development of Chinese education policy. In the 1960s the 'Key Point' school policy was adopted. The rationale of this policy was to concentrate quality educational resources on selected urban schools in the hope of producing more graduates in a shorter period of time. The chapter starts with an introduction of higher education (HE) in Mao's era. This is followed by recent policy changes in post-Mao China, examining how privatisation, internationalisation and change of governance style affected HE development. The success of privatisation, marketization and decentralisation, combined with the emergence of various new university programs, called for the establishment of a quality assurance (QA) system to ensure education quality in different types of HE institutions. In 1985, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacted reforms to give more flexibility to HE institutions, especially the prestigious universities, on teaching and research, as well as intra-university managements.
