This paper examines institutional governance of the public university in China, investigating the extent to which government has sponsored the autonomy of universities since the inception of the opening up reforms of 1978. The paper sets out to explain how the party governance system of China is interconnected with aspects of the university's governance, little commented upon in academic literature outside of China. In particular, it explores how the Presidential Accountability System under the leadership of the University Committee of Communist Party (UCCP) operates.