This review comprehensively examines the management of language and education policies in Sino-foreign cooperative education in China, highlighting both its advantages and challenges across four decades of development. The evolution of Sino-foreign cooperative education parallels China’s broader educational reforms and internationalization strategies, progressing through exploratory development, standardized regulation, rapid expansion, and the current deepening reform stage (2011 to the present). Language education policy plays a central role in determining instructional languages, pedagogical goals, and curriculum design while fostering bilingualism, multilingualism, and intercultural competence. These policies establish legal and administrative frameworks that support bilingual teaching models, international language proficiency standards, and the integration of foreign teaching resources and faculty. The deepening reform stage emphasizes quality improvement, flexibility in policy implementation through delegated approval authority, and strategic alignment with national development goals. Enhanced withdrawal mechanisms ensure that low-quality or non-compliant cooperative schools are rectified, suspended, or closed, thereby promoting overall educational quality. This stage also reflects China's leading role in cooperative projects, the influence of neoliberal ideologies, and ideological considerations shaping institutional autonomy and governance. Despite the benefits of expanded access to global curricula, cultural exchange, and strengthened quality assurance, challenges persist. These include limited language diversity, an overemphasis on standardized testing, insufficient cross-cultural education, uniform policy standards that may not accommodate diverse institutional contexts, and gaps between policy formulation and practical implementation. Additionally, balancing public welfare with market-driven forces and fostering effective cultural integration remain ongoing concerns. This review synthesizes related studies to illuminate these strengths and complexities, underscoring the importance of rigorous supervision, legal compliance, and strategic policy orientation. It offers insights for ongoing policy refinement aimed at enhancing the quality, inclusivity, and sustainability of Sino-foreign cooperative education in China, ultimately supporting the cultivation of globally competent graduates and the modernization of China's higher education system.
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