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The G20 summit in HangZhou (2016) has witnessed China in transition, which involves not only economic development and technological advancement (Coase, 2016; He, Chan, Mao, & Zhou, 2016), but also educational and healthcare reform. From 1978 onwards, China has adopted “Open-Door Policy”, and created more opportunities for Chinese people to broaden their horizon about the changing world. After nearly forty years of rapid economic development and social progress, China has become an active player in the global economy. Economic development has now enabled China to become more actively involved in the international cooperation and exchange programmes and China’s voice is being heard on the international stage.

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Of some interest, China’s proposal of “One Belt One Road” was written in the resolution of the United Nations (UN) at the 71 General Assembly on the ground that the proposal may promote the implementation of a UN facilitated sustainable development agenda, which aims to end poverty and promote prosperity and contribute to the practical economic cooperation among the countries and regions involved (China Daily, 2017). More importantly, China’s proposal proves to be consistent with the UN conceptualization of economic development, providing more opportunities for different countries to have a free ride and realise their aspirations of working together to win in economic development and international trade.

With the advent of the era of knowledge based economy, China came to recognise that innovation is the key to economic prosperity, social progress and global competitiveness. In recent years, China has doubled her efforts to encourage scientific and technological innovation so as to catch up with the developed countries worldwide. In May 2017, China successfully launched her first skylab of Tianzhou (天

舟一号), suggesting that China has entered a new stage in technological innovation. The speedy development of science and technology in China requires more and more Chinese international students to come back to China after they have studied in the West with solid knowledge and updated skills.

Regarding educational reform, China pursues a policy of “going outside and inviting inside” to change the status of Chinese higher education. Realising that Chinese university students’ lack of international knowledge and skills in an era of globalization, China encourages universities to take multiple measures to reform the current higher education. A range of questions were raised such as 1) What is the

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fundamental role of higher education in relation to the national economy and social development? 2) How to bridge the gap between China and the developed countries in higher education? 3) How to find a better way for the internationalization of China’s higher education? 4) How to ensure the quality of higher education advisers? 5) How to develop a higher education system with Chinese characteristics (Wang & Song, 2016).

By comparing the systems and regulations in relation to quality assurance of graduate education in the US, the UK and Japan, China strives hard to find a way forward. Every year, “young backbone teachers” are sent to prestigious universities worldwide for more than one-year study so as to learn from the West and broaden Chinese teachers’ global horizon. Meanwhile, different projects of “co-building curriculum with the international high level scholars” are carried out. For each joint construction, scholars with high academic attainments and rich experiences in higher education from internationally renowned universities are invited to form a cooperative team, who are responsible for discussing and determining the teaching requirements, teaching materials, teaching methods, teacher training, and other related matters.

To improve the theoretical depth and introduce the cutting-edge technology in graduate education, China has implemented the “Chief International Academic Adviser Appointment Plan”, inviting top scholars from world class universities and disciplines to “feel the pulse” and deeply participate in discipline development, teacher development, and personnel training programs. In this way, China is realizing the effective “grafting” of world-class with Chinese characteristic graduate education, thus lifting the level of “inviting inside”. As such, international part-time supervisors

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can play an active role in the construction of disciplines and the cultivation of high- level talents.

To broaden students’ international vision, great efforts have been made to attract international students to pursue their higher academic degrees in China. It is hoped that the increasing number of international students may bring more diversity and vitality to the educational environment in China, though China still lags far behind the developed countries in terms of international recruitment (Wang & Song, 2016). It seems that the internationalization of Chinese higher education shows a good prospect with the continuous improvement of China’s economic strength and scientific research level.

China’s joining of the World Trade Organization (2002), the successful hosting of the Olympic Games in the year of 2008 and the G20 Summit in HangZhou (2016) have made the country more open, cooperative and promising than ever before (Chan & Ip, 2014). Many Chinese people are confident that in another thirty years, China may become a strong economic player in the world, facing more opportunities and challenges as well.