After the reform and opening up, China's education has experienced four stages: recovery, accelerated development, positive development and vigorous development. From the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to the first meeting of the whole church in May 1985, higher education was in the stage of bringing order out of chaos and restoring development.

This stage laid the foundation for the reform and development of higher education after 1985, and it has epoch-making significance in the history of higher education development in China. From the first convening of the whole church and the release of the central government's decision on the reform of the education system to the promulgation of the1February 1993 outline of China's education reform and development, it is a stage of exploring reform and accelerating development. This stage has pointed out the direction, determined the key points and keys for the reform of higher education system. 1February 1993 to1June 1999, the third session of the whole church was held, which was a stage of deepening reform and positive development. Higher education at this stage pays attention to the coordinated development of scale, structure, quality and benefit, and has made great strides in system reform, laying the foundation for the reform and development of higher education in the 2 1 century. Since 1999, the third meeting of the whole church and the expansion of higher education, higher education has entered a stage of comprehensive reform and vigorous development. The reform and development at this stage has narrowed the distance between higher education and economy and society, promoted the change of development view of higher education and accelerated the process of popularization of higher education.