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Title:: Three Lists of Reform in China’s Higher Education:About What Can, Should and Cannot Be Done

Keywords:: higher education; reform of “release; governance and service”; list of powers; list of responsibilities; negative list

Abstract:: China’s reform in higher education is moving from the stage of “separation between administration, operation and evaluation” to the new stage of “streamlining administration and delegating powers, strengthening regulation, and improving services”(known as “release, governance and service”). However, the policy initiatives are still confined to the ideas of decentralization, fine-tuning and the implementation of the positive list of university autonomy. This paper is intended to clarify and put forward that the goal of the reform characterized by “release, governance and service” in the field of higher education is to establish a modern university system in accordance with the spirit of “nothing can be done without the authorization of the law” and “anything can be done if not prohibited by the law”. The success in achieving a substantive reform depends on the implementation of the following three lists:the list of governmental power and responsibility concerning educational affairs; the negative list of prohibitive provisions on “what is not allowed” in colleges and universities and the negative list concerning the autonomy of educational evaluation organizations.