China's 14 graduate discipline categories and how to read a programme code

Sources checked 10 October 2026

The first two digits of a code in the 2022 Graduate Education Discipline and Programme Catalogue give one of 14 discipline categories, from 01 to 14. The first four digits identify a first-level discipline or a professional degree category, and a third digit of 5 or higher marks a professional degree category. This page explains how to read those codes and lists the 14 categories. The English names are this site's translation of the Chinese text; the catalogue itself gives Chinese names and codes only.

The 14 discipline categories

The catalogue lists the following discipline categories. The English renderings are this site's translation.

Code	Chinese name	English (site translation)
01	哲学	Philosophy
02	经济学	Economics
03	法学	Law
04	教育学	Education
05	文学	Literature
06	历史学	History
07	理学	Natural Sciences
08	工学	Engineering
09	农学	Agriculture
10	医学	Medicine
11	军事学	Military Science
12	管理学	Management
13	艺术学	Arts
14	交叉学科	Interdisciplinary

Reading a four-digit code

Under the catalogue, the four-digit code has two parts:

The first two digits show the discipline category. For example, 14 is the interdisciplinary category.
The third and fourth digits show the first-level discipline or professional degree category within that category.

The third digit matters for telling the two kinds of entry apart. Explanatory note 3 says that a third digit starting from 5 marks a professional degree category. Entries with a third digit from 0 to 4 are first-level disciplines.

Two examples from category 14 show the difference:

1401 集成电路科学与工程 (Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, site translation) has a third digit of 0, so it is a first-level discipline in the catalogue.
1451 文物 (Cultural Heritage, site translation) has a third digit of 5, so it is a professional degree category under explanatory note 3.

Which degrees a category can award

Explanatory note 4 says that, except for category 14, each first-level discipline awards degrees under the discipline category it belongs to.

Explanatory note 5 covers professional degree categories. A category name followed by an asterisk () can be awarded only as a professional master's degree. Other professional degree categories can be awarded as either a professional master's or a professional doctoral degree. Category 1452 密码 (Cryptography, site translation) carries the asterisk, so under this note it can be awarded only as a professional master's degree.

Explanatory note 6 covers first-level disciplines that the catalogue lists as able to award degrees in more than one discipline category. For these, the degree-awarding institution's academic degrees committee decides which category the degree is awarded under.

Category 14: interdisciplinary

Category 14 works differently from the others. The catalogue lists its first-level disciplines with the degree categories each one can award:

1401 集成电路科学与工程 (Integrated Circuit Science and Engineering, site translation): science or engineering.
1402 国家安全学 (National Security Studies, site translation): law, engineering, management or military science.
1403 设计学 (Design, site translation): engineering or arts.
1404 遥感科学与技术 (Remote Sensing Science and Technology, site translation): science or engineering.
1405 智能科学与技术 (Intelligent Science and Technology, site translation): science or engineering.
1406 纳米科学与工程 (Nanoscience and Engineering, site translation): science or engineering.
1407 区域国别学 (Regional and Country Studies, site translation): economics, law, literature or history. Under explanatory note 6, the degree-awarding institution's committee decides which of these applies.
1451 文物 (Cultural Heritage, site translation): a professional degree category, as explained above.
1452 密码* (Cryptography, site translation): a professional degree category that can be awarded only as a professional master's degree.

Which catalogue applies

The catalogue has been in force since 2023. According to the notice that issued it, the new programme and training work started in the second half of 2023 follows the new catalogue. Students who were in school already, who began admission in 2022, or who enrolled in September 2023 follow the old discipline and programme arrangements.

When you read a university's graduate brochure, a code is a classification. The catalogue explains what the digits mean. It does not say which universities offer any given programme, and it says nothing about international students. For those points, use each university's own admissions brochure.

Planning suggestion

As a planning suggestion, not a requirement, it can help to note the code of each programme you are considering and check its category and degree type against the catalogue before you compare programmes.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council, CHSI or any university, and it is not legal advice. If the official text and the current notice of the university or authority handling your case differ, the official text and that notice prevail.