Abstract: Internationalization of higher education is a meaningful and well-defined concept, its connotation and extension are continuously deepening and expanding.Based on the analysis of the connotation of the internationalization of higher education in Yunnan, this article presents that internationalization strategy of higher education in Yunnan should take an initiative to integrate and serve the national strategic needs, meanwhile, it also need to serve the requirements of the local social and economic development, under the new circumstances, its' strategic positioning should focus on how to have a complete promotion in qualities, and how to construct a regional higher education center toward the neighboring countries. However, there still have some challenges in its implementation, for instance, working priorities are not highlighted, working mechanism innovations still insufficient and supporting policy environment need to be improved. Based on the developing realities of Yunnan, the working priorities of the internationalization strategy of higher education should be on the education for international students in China, Chinese-foreign cooperative education and the development and promotion of foreign language learning Chinese.