The transformation of Chinese regional universities faces two challenges：the insufficiency of legitimacy and institutional prerequisite；and the lack of a formal transformation strategy. The development of Universities of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands can provide some useful insights in this regard. Based on analyses of historical-institutional factors behind the growth of Dutch UASs and their main characteristics，this paper proposes that Chinese UASs should position themselves as professional higher education institutions with practice-based research as their major driving force，and adopt a different positioning strategy from research universities and vocational colleges.