This thesis is animated by the broad questions of how the state governs through, and how we are governed by, higher education nationalization policies. The former question corresponds to the idea of governance whilst the latter relates to governmentality. Both governance and governmentality are manifestations of the notion of power. The internationalization policies examined in this thesis are China’s World First-Class University and First-Class Academic Discipline Construction plan (commonly known as the Double First plan), and its Belt and Road education policy. The analysis focuses on macro-level policymaking, while the predominant methodology can be characterized as discourse studies. A thesis-by-publications format makes the investigation of the broad research question possible by dividing it into smaller research questions and adopting various theoretical frameworks and methodologies. The introductory chapter provides readers with an overview of the domestic and international contexts of Chinese higher education internationalization, current literature on internationalization, the research gap, nested research questions, and methodological strategies. Chapter 2 tackles the conceptual question of what constitutes the Chinese state and subsequently puts forward a framework of strategic-relational metagovernance, which captures the relationship between the supreme leader, the Party, the central government, and the local governments in policymaking. Chapter 3 maps out an ontology-driven methodological framework that analyzes high-level policymaking through discourse studies of policy documents. Chapter 4 analyzes the symbiotic relationship between the state and the two above-mentioned internationalization policies through the lens of the social imaginary, revealing the underlying continuity between these policies. In Chapter 5, a critical policy discourse analysis of the Belt and Road education policy documents demonstrates how discursive government is carried out in policy documents, which not only frames policy issues but also embeds in them policy drivers, levers, and values. Chapter 6 examines another aspect of the state’s power—governmentality. A Foucauldian poststructural analysis of world-class university documents reveals how universities and individuals working within the plan are governed by problem representations produced by policy documents. The concluding chapter summarizes the thesis' main findings and discusses the research's limitations.