jats:p Chinese higher education institutions have experienced an unprecedented expansion and major reforms since the late 1990s. The revolutionary growth has not only established the largest higher education system in the world but has also transformed an elite system to a post-massified one over the last two decades. The expansion policy was largely an economically justified proposal that has emerged under certain conditions. However, reform has been criticised for not delivering the promised outcomes. The article examines the historical development of higher education expansion in China, investigating its rationales, practices and the extent to which the policy has become a paradox during massification. As China moves into the post-massification stage, the article forecasts emerging policy trends and highlights future challenges. It considers restructuring state-education relationship through mechanisms of funding, provision and regulation as options for governing the ever growing and massifying system more sustainably in the upcoming era. </jats:p>