English language education has always been accorded paramount importance in China since the mid-1980s. In order to improve English teaching quality, China has initiated several rounds of English curriculum reform at various levels against the backdrop of the unprecedented spread of English as a lingua franca. Drawing upon the texts of the national curriculum documents and the relevant research literature, this paper examines the evolution of the College English curriculum for non-English majors in Chinese higher institutions over the past three decades. It reviews a number of what we see as the most important trends relating to the College English curriculum development, together with some discussion of particularly controversial issues arising from this process. We base the paper's findings on a three-part theoretical framework consisting of social development, students' needs and knowledge development to identify the factors which provide the impetus for change in the College English curricula.