Hong Kong has undergone a series of educational reforms since the mid 1990s in response to the tidal wave of globalisation. This article tries to examine the recent education reforms in Hong Kong's higher education within the global context, by putting into perspective a discussion of its policy implications of marketisation, privatisation and corporatisation, through the examination of three important dimensions of education governance, namely: regulation, provision and financing. It finally concludes that the higher education governance in Hong Kong is transforming itself with a new state–education relationship under the impact of globalisation. [Copyright of Globalisation, Societies & Education is the property of Routledge. Full article may be available at the publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14767720601133504]