Abstract��With growing tension between demand for and supply of higher education in mainland China, more and more students are going outside for their studies. Many go to foreign countries, but some go Hong Kong and Macau, which are Special Administrative Regions (SARs) within China. The nature of the outflow has changed rapidly with scale expansion and diversification of students. The increase in numbers of self-financed students is among the particularly interesting features. The research examines the market of demand and supply, push-pull factors, the motivations of individual student, rationales of host institution by theoretical elaboration, policy analysis and empirical study.
The findings show some similarities and differences on the pattern of Mainland student flow to Hong Kong and Macau and which to foreign countries. Similarities include firstly, both flows are driven by the excess and differentiated demand of higher education in mainland; secondly, in both flows, each individual student and host institution have distinct combination of academic and economic rationales with different priority; and thirdly on both regional market of Hong Kong and Macau, and international market of foreign countries, there are different level and category of demand and supply which meet and match each other by market force. The difference is that Hong Kong and Macau is a unique market of higher education with combined feature of internationalization and nationalization for mainland students.
2004, Vol. 6 
