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Contacting a prospective supervisor in China: what an invitation letter is for

Sources checked

Applicants write to prospective supervisors because, under the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, every applicant must provide a pre-admission document issued by the university applied to, and an "invitation letter from the schools or professors" is one form that document can take (section VI, item 7 of the scholarship guide). Such a letter is part of an application file, not an admission decision: under Order No. 42, Article 12, the admission of international students is decided by the school. Supervisors are likewise not chosen by the letter — under Article 32 of the Degree Law, the degree-awarding unit provides graduate students with supervisors and establishes the mechanisms for selecting, assessing, supervising and dynamically adjusting them.

The Chinese provisions quoted on this page are given in this site's own English translation.

Where the letter sits in the scholarship process

The scholarship guide sets out the application procedure as a sequence. An applicant first learns about the designated universities and the majors they offer, and identifies the preferred scholarship programme, university and major; the next step is to "reach the designated university for admission documents" (section V, item 2). Applications then move to an application receiving agency for a recommendation, the online form is filled in and submitted through the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System, the agency submits the recommended candidates list and the application documents, the China Scholarship Council organises designated universities and experts to examine eligibility and academic performance and finalise the short-list, and the Council notifies the results to the agency, which informs the applicant (section V, items 3 to 7).

The pre-admission document belongs to that second step. Section VI, item 7 states that all applicants must provide a pre-admission document issued by the universities applying, and that these documents include a pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department or an invitation letter from the schools or professors, etc.

The scholarship guide is the guide to that scholarship. Its conditions are conditions of the Chinese Government Scholarship; the provisions quoted on this page do not cover admission requirements for self-funded applicants, which are published by each university in its own admissions brochure.

What the letter does and does not decide

Question What the provision says Source
Who decides admission? The school decides; applicants who do not meet the enrolment conditions must not be recruited. Higher education institutions examine entry qualifications and the proof of financial guarantee, and conduct an examination or assessment. Order No. 42, Article 12
Who provides the supervisor? The degree-awarding unit provides graduate students with teachers, researchers or professionals of good conduct with a relatively high academic level or strong practical ability to serve as supervisors, and establishes selection, assessment, supervision and dynamic adjustment mechanisms. Degree Law, Article 32
What document must a scholarship applicant supply? A pre-admission document issued by the university applied to; it may be a pre-admission notice from the international students' admission department or an invitation letter from the school or a professor, etc. section VI, item 7 of the scholarship guide

Two further points come from the Ministry of Education's old scholarship page, dated 17 September 2009. The Ministry's 2009 page says that qualified applications are forwarded to the institutions and that the final decision whether to admit the applicants is made by the institutions. It also says that if an applicant has been contacted by, or admitted by, an institution listed in the Directory prior to application, the applicant is requested to enclose the relevant admission letters for the reference of the host institution — which is the practical reason a supervisor's reply is worth keeping in your file. The same page says the Council sends the List of Admitted Students, the Admission Notice and the Visa Application Form for Study in China (JW201) to the relevant dispatching authorities by 31 July; that page is dated 2009, and the application receiving authority handling your case sets the dates that apply now.

The Ministry's 2009 page also says that finalised placements, specialties and duration of studies are in principle not to be changed, and that scholarship applicants accepted by Chinese institutions are officially confirmed as Chinese Government Scholarship students with endorsement from the Ministry of Education.

Under Article 32 of the Degree Law, supervisors are expected to serve as role models, fulfil the duty of fostering virtue through education, care for students, guide them in academic research and professional practice, keep to academic ethics and norms, and help raise their academic or professional level. The Law sets the framework; each degree-awarding institution publishes its own detailed standards (Degree Law, Article 22).

A suggestion for the first message

The following is a planning suggestion, not a rule from any of the documents quoted here. A first message to a prospective supervisor is easier to answer if it lets the reader see whether your question fits the group. Five items are usually enough:

  1. Who you are, including your current degree stage and field.
  2. The degree you are applying for, master's or doctoral.
  3. The research question you want to work on, stated in one or two sentences.
  4. Why this group, in terms of the work the group does.
  5. What you are asking for, whether that is a view on fit, a pre-admission document, or both.

Keep the message short, write in the language the group publishes in, and do not attach a full file before you are asked for one. Nothing here is a requirement of the scholarship guide or of Order No. 42.

Questions people ask

Does an invitation letter from a professor mean I have been admitted?

No. Under Order No. 42, Article 12, the admission of international students is decided by the school, which examines entry qualifications and the proof of financial guarantee and conducts an examination or assessment; applicants who do not meet the enrolment conditions must not be recruited. The Ministry's 2009 page says the same thing for scholarship applicants: the final decision whether to admit is made by the institutions.

Who decides who my supervisor will be?

Under Article 32 of the Degree Law, the degree-awarding unit provides graduate students with supervisors and establishes the mechanisms for their selection, assessment, supervision and dynamic adjustment. The provisions quoted on this page do not cover how a particular institution runs that process.

Is a professor's invitation letter required for every applicant?

For applicants to the Chinese Government Scholarship, section VI, item 7 of the scholarship guide requires a pre-admission document issued by the university applied to, and lists an invitation letter from the schools or professors as one of the accepted forms. The provisions quoted on this page do not cover requirements set by universities for applicants who are not applying to that scholarship.

What happens to a supervisor's letter once I apply?

The Ministry's 2009 page says that if an applicant has been contacted by, or admitted by, an institution prior to application, the applicant is requested to enclose the relevant admission letters for the reference of the host institution.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary, is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council, CHSI or any university, and is not legal advice; if the official text or the current notice of the university or authority handling your case differs from what is written here, the official text and that notice prevail.

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