| Since 1978, China has undergone one mighty and magnificent practice of reform and opening-up. Thanks to the unremitting and indomitable effort made by the whole Chinese nation, a new great epic, in which China has witnessed a historic change, has arrived. Through the historical process of reform and opening-up, Chinese higher education experienced the development from the state of confusion to orderly and sound progress, shifted its orientation from elite education to mass education, hence is now embarking on the great journey of invigorating the big higher education nation in terms of its quantity to a great higher education power. The historical course of reform and opening-up is continually pushing forward the construction of China's higher education governed by law. The recognition of China's higher education legal system provides a perspective of understanding the development of Chinese higher education, China's reform and opening-up, as well as the socialist modernization. Therefore, it is of vital significance to observe and comprehend the track and to grasp the law of the development in the construction of socialist legal system in China.The chronological review and summarized analysis of Chinese socialist legal system construction in higher education are the breakthrough point of this study. The past 28 years of reform and opening-up witnessed the tortuous course of development in Chinese exploration for socialism, which was not only the historical background but also the logical departure of reform and opening-up. Right after the foundation of PRC, our government initiated the exploration of the establishment of higher education's legal system, defined the socialist nature and orientation of higher education, and decided the CPC's (Communist Party of China) authority over it. Furthermore, one series of highly centralized and unified management system in higher education has also been established, and underpinned the restoration and development of higher education. However, the new-borne higher education's legal system has almost been destroyed by "Culture Revolution". After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, reform and opening-up adopted the orientation of market economy. The calling of establishing the society governed by law was not only the objective necessity of economic development, but also the demand of values from the entire society including higher education. It was right in the grant historical context, China's legal construction in higher education embarked on a new era. The revival in the initial period of reform was soon followed by the overall legal construction of higher education which has been launched, promoted and underpinned. Chinese higher education legal system has been gradually come into being on the basis of Constitution of PRC & Education Law of PRC, centralized by Higher Education Law of PRC, and supported by the related law, regulations and rules. On the purpose of running the higher education sector in conformity with legal provisions, it therefore provided a system guarantee to secure the healthy reform and development for higher education, furnishing every domain and aspect with laws to go by.The market-economy orientation of the reform establishes a basic value orientation for legal construction of higher education. To construct the legal system of higher education is to keep it abreast with the socialist economic system, to constantly adjust the balance between right and duty of the higher education's legal subject, hence accommodating it to fundamental laws of the development in higher education, and social demand toward it. Among the complex legal relations of higher education, colleges and universities are the subject of vital significance, which are ranged as a sub-system in the entire social system facing interweaved and manifold external and internal legal relations. Besides the legal relation between government and college & university, there are inextricably ties between college & university and society. While some other relations, such as the relation between students and college & university, between teacher and college & university, as well as relation among those functional divisions & institutions, constitutes the internal legal relations of college & university. A literature review and related background knowledge, which concerns the evolution of the balance between higher education's legal subject's right and duty over the past three decades since reform, will be covered from Chapter 3 to Chapter 7. On this basis, this study further analyzes legal relations among different legal subject, and probes the solutions of setting up and coordinating legal relations among them.With the historical progress, advanced technology is playing an increasingly important role in social development; and the core of improving national competence is people. Hence the connection between university and government as well as university and society, has been more intensive and complex. Since reform and opening-up, in conformity with the guidance of enhancing university's managerial authority, the relation between university and government has been gradually normalized and governed by law. China's legal construction of higher education has been monumentalized by the establishment of college & university's legal status. Even so, quite some uncertainty still exists in the matter of the legal subject of university and government. To clear and define the boundary of university's autonomy in authority, and to determine realm of government's governance, are important topics in legal construction of higher education. Though, no doubt that the legal construction in higher education is directed and underpinned by the ruling party and government, diversified factors, including economic growth, political reform, technological advancement and change in market's demand, also exerted influences on it, and impel it out of the state of being sealed off. Driven by the development of market economy, some non-governmental entities came into the domain of higher education, and became the important power of running schools. While, apart from implementing the basic functions like training talented personnel and scientific researches, college & university has grown as a major independent entity of running schools, strengthening ties between course institutions, and scientific researches' application. During the course of reform and opening-up, college & university shook off the traditional identity of ivory tower, and get involved in the social and economic development. Legal construction in higher education is, to some extent, a process of establishing a harmonious legal relation among college & university, government and society, keeping abreast with socialist market economy. This process is now advancing, and will continue to be underpinned.What accompanied with the dramatic shift in university's external legal relations was the see change of internal legal relations---relations among university, student and teacher. With the continuous progress in market-oriented economic reform, the traditional relation between university and students has been challenged, in the regard of university enrolling system, students' administration, labor system and so on. One series of reforms have been taken place concerning the relation between students and university covering the period from their entrance, in-school to their graduation. Especially, the establishment of higher education's cost-share-system triggered the dramatic shift in the connection between university and student, promoted university students' legal status, and extended their legal right. The nature of relation between university and student is to some extent contractual; and the important value orientation of higher education's legal construction is to protect and promote the right of the educated. During the past three decades since reform and opening-up, the importance of respecting knowledge and the talented is but the social consensus; and it is more striking phenomenon that education is playing a basic and vanguard role and having an overall bearing. The teacher's qualification system, teacher's post system, teacher's appointment system, and teacher's remuneration system, have been established and further improved, which in turn impel the gradual alteration of the relation between university and teacher from traditional identity under the planned economy to contractual relation under the market economy. The course of higher education's legal construction is the reformation of legal relation between university and teacher. Therefore, further promoting university teacher's management in accordance with law is one of the central issues of coordinating legal relation between university and teacher, which need to be probed and put into practice.The autonomy of college and university in running schools is entitled by law, which is also a basic function of college and university. The unbalance of university's internal authority exerted a direct and profound influence upon university's construction and development. During the past three decades since reform and opening-up, the internal relation of authority in college and university has undergone profound change. Thanks to decades' of practice, a mechanism that the university chancellor assumes the overall responsibility under the leadership of Party Committee has come into being, which normalized the administrative power by law, and determined the top position of academy within college and university. However, the distribution university's internal authority was deeply affected by planned economy. Hence, how to integrate and coordinate university's internal authority of politics, administration and academy is a crucial issue for modern university institution.Marxism believes that law is "manifestation of interest and demand produced by certain way of material production". China has thousand-year-long history of feudal society; so before reform and opening-up, China lacks of the prerequisite of market economy, socialist democracy, socialist law system, as well as the tradition that law is supreme. The tortuous development of higher education's law system started fairly late, and the process is relatively slow. It was of exceptional difficulty to integrate law civilization and educational civilization. Therefore, the achievement obtained by legal construction in higher education since reform and opening-up is extremely precious. On the basis of illustrating the change of relation among higher education's subjects, this study focuses in the end on probing the social and theoretical basis of legal construction in higher education, and analyzing what is the intrinsic connection between legal construction in higher education and evolution of economy, society and culture. The shift from the planned economy to market economy solid social and economic foundation for higher education's legal construction in new era; and change of interest relation resulting from reform of economic system provided the engine for higher education's legal construction. As a part of the socialist legal system, legal construction in higher education was directly empowered by fundamental principle and aim of governing the nation by law. Globalization in education in the context of economic globalization also deeply affects China's legal construction of higher education. The recent three decades since reform and opening-up witnessed the amazing reform which was a brand new "revolution" guided by Communist Party of China. It was also a grant historical period in which the socialist theory and practice with China's characteristics has been explored. Mao Zedong's thought, Deng Xiaoping's theory, the 'Three Representatives", and Scientific Outlook on Development are all considered as the theoretical achievements of Marxism's localization in China, which is not only the great beacon of China's socialist revolution and development, but also the paramount theoretical basis for China's legal construction in higher education. In the historical process that Chinese people leaded by CPC try every means to explore socialism with Chinese characteristics, legal construction in higher education in the new era is probed, advanced and developed.
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