The existing literature of state-society relation in China has been discussed mainly around the conceptualization of indigenous NGOs practice with little attention to the relations between international philanthropic foundations (hereafter as IPFs) and Chinese government and other stakeholders.  There is even less attention to their relations in the context of early stage of “Reform and Open up”.  In reality, from late 1970s, China has invited IPFs which has network and resource advantage to engage in the process of social transformation. The IPFs have managed to participate in collaborative governance through various governance networks and collaborative strategies.  Therefore, it is very meaningful to explain this type of state-society relation from both the conceptual and empirical standpoint. To fill the gap, this thesis is going to ask: how the collaborative governance network driven by IPFs has been formed and evolved?  The research would use the methodology of case study and focus on three collaborative networks between 1979-2002 driven by the F Foundation.  Based on the dialogue with the theories of network governance, collaborative governance and structural holes, the research would conceptualize the state-society interaction pattern between IPFs with resource advantages and the informal but supportive institutional context at the early reform stage of China.