China’s Double First-Class Initiative and the Counter-Hegemonic Internationalization of Higher Education: A Small Study of Its Internationalization Policies

Abstract

This paper examines how China uses its Double First-Class Initiative (Shuangyilu) to construct an alternative paradigm for higher education internationalization, navigating the tension between counter-hegemonic regional leadership and compliance with established global metrics. Moving beyond macro-level state rhetoric, this study interrogates the structural realities of this initiative by analyzing Ministry of Education (MoE) directives alongside dual institutional case studies of Tsinghua University and Xi'an Jiaotong University. Drawing on the critical frameworks of higher education scholars Rui Yang, Ka Ho Mok, and Simon Marginson, the research explores a central institutional contradiction: the state’s explicit mandate to dismantle "SCI supremacy" versus the persistent reliance on commercial Western ranking systems like QS and THE for global legitimacy. Furthermore, the paper evaluates the operational reality of China's academic pivot toward the Global South via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), utilizing institutional curriculum tracking and qualitative partner feedback to test claims of an "alternative pathway." Finally, this paper addresses the systemic risks of an emergent Sino centric academic hegemony and outlines the implications for Global South nations seeking genuine epistemic and policy autonomy within a multipolar knowledge economy.