Higher education reform in China is deepening, and the governance reform taking place at the 985 Project universities over the past decade has displayed a shift from government driven to internally driven, from adaptive to proactive, and from localized to systemic. This reflects the overall status of governance reform in China's higher education. In the midst of China's social transformation process, the reality of contradictions in higher education and the arduous work of governance reform demonstrate that Chinese universities are trending toward good governance.