China’s Regulatory Framework for Transnational Higher Education: Development, Impacts, and Rationales

China’s regulatory framework for transnational higher education (TNHE) is important for foreign higher education institutions (HEIs) to access the Chinese education market and for TNHE to operate in China. First, this research synthesizes China’s regulatory framework for TNHE. Second, through documentary analysis, this research examines policy development and its impacts on TNHE. Third, through institutional logics analysis, this research analyzes the rationales for policy development. It finds that the development of TNHE is driven by China’s development demands, the forces of social demands, and the challenges of globalization. China is expanding its openness to education by allowing for-profit, foreign majority-owned, and wholly foreign-owned HEIs and granting them legal status and more autonomy. TNHE is transiting from quantity to quality, China has established a quality assurance system. In the meantime, the development of TNHE is restricted by China’s concerns on national educational sovereignty. China always emphasizes its educational sovereignty and social values. This suggests that China aims to utilize TNHE to serve its development while guaranteeing its educational sovereignty and social values.