This research reviews the higher education legal system of China, including laws and bylaw documents promulgated since 1978 as the Chinese government decided on opening up to the outside world. The development of China's higher education system and significant policies on universities' governance since the 1980s are discussed. At the system level, this research reviews policies on the development of China's public and non-government higher education institutions. At the institutional level, this article reviews policies on China's university autonomy in the context of the essential components of the Soviet model being undamaged and Chinese unique characteristics have been supplemented to China's higher education institutions. This article concludes that higher education governance in China has been reformed, and the state supervising model has been adopted.