How to apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship: the seven steps for graduate applicants

You apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship by moving through the seven steps listed in section V of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship. Steps 1 to 4 are yours: choose a designated university and major, obtain admission documents from that university, obtain a recommendation from an application receiving agency, and submit the application form online. Steps 5 to 7 belong to the agency and the China Scholarship Council (CSC): the agency submits its recommended list and your documents, the CSC organizes designated universities and experts to examine applications and finalize a short list, and the CSC notifies the admission results to the agency, which then informs you.

The CSC, entrusted by China's Ministry of Education, is responsible for the admission, enrollment and administration of Chinese Government Scholarship recipients (scholarship guide, introductory section).

The seven steps in order

Step	Who acts	What the step is
1	Applicant	Learn about designated Chinese universities and the majors they offer, through campuschina.org or other means, and identify the preferred scholarship programme, designated university and major
2	Applicant	Reach the designated university for admission documents
3	Applicant	Reach an application receiving agency for a recommendation
4	Applicant	Fill in and submit the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online through the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System (campuschina.org)
5	Application receiving agency	Submit the recommended candidates list and their application documents
6	CSC, with designated universities and experts concerned	Examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance, then finalize the short-list candidates
7	CSC, then the application receiving agency	The CSC notifies the admission results to the agency; the agency informs the applicant

Every line above follows the wording of section V of the scholarship guide.

Step 2 and the pre-admission document

For a graduate applicant, step 2 connects directly to item 7 of the documents list in the scholarship guide, "Pre-Admission Documents". That item states that all applicants must provide a pre-admission document issued by the universities they are applying to, and that pre-admission documents include a pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department, or an invitation letter from a school or a professor, among others. Step 2 is where you obtain that document.

The Ministry's 2009 page, dated 17 September 2009, says in section III that if an applicant has been contacted by or admitted by an institution listed in the Directory before applying, the applicant is requested to enclose the relevant admission letters for the reference of the host institution.

Steps 5 to 7: what happens after you submit

Section III of the Ministry's 2009 page, dated 17 September 2009, describes this stage as follows:

• The CSC reviews all application documents received from the designated authorities and makes necessary adjustments to the proposed institutions.
• Applications are not processed if they are not compliant with recruitment regulations or the application documents are incomplete.
• Qualified applications are forwarded to different institutions, and the final decision whether to admit is made by the institutions.
• Finalized placements, specialties and duration of studies are in principle not to be changed. For a graduate applicant this covers the major and the length of study recorded in the placement.
• Scholarship applicants accepted by Chinese institutions are officially confirmed as Chinese Government Scholarship students with endorsement from the Ministry of Education of China.
• The CSC 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 July 31, so that the documents are forwarded to the students (see visa and arrival).

The July 31 date is that 2009 page's own statement, presented here as such. The scholarship guide describes the same stage in its own terms: in step 6 the CSC organizes designated universities and experts concerned to examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance before finalizing the short-list candidates, and in step 7 it notifies the admission results to the application receiving agency, which subsequently has the applicant informed.

Dates and deadlines

The seven steps in section V carry no dates: the scholarship guide gives no date or deadline for any step, and its page carries no publication date and no academic year. The dates that apply to your case are set by the application receiving authority you apply through.

One planning suggestion, not a rule: keep the pre-admission document from step 2 and the recommendation from step 3 together with the personal details you will enter in the online form, so that steps 2, 3 and 4 can be completed without going back for the same information twice.

The conditions in the scholarship guide, including its document list, are conditions of the Chinese Government Scholarship. They are not general admission rules for self-funded students: what a university requires for admission, and its programmes, dates, fees, language proof and length of study, are the university's own decision published in its admissions brochure. More on paying for a degree is on the funding page.

Questions people ask

Who makes the final decision on admission?

The Ministry's 2009 page says the final decision whether to admit is made by the institutions. The scholarship guide says the CSC organizes designated universities and experts concerned to examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance before finalizing the short-list candidates. The 2009 page is dated 17 September 2009, so read its wording as that page's statement.

When will I hear the result?

The scholarship guide says the CSC notifies the admission results to the application receiving agency, which then has the applicant informed (step 7). The Ministry's 2009 page says the CSC sends the List of Admitted Students, the Admission Notice and the JW201 form to the relevant dispatching authorities by July 31. The provisions quoted on this page do not cover how quickly an agency then contacts an individual applicant.

Do I need a pre-admission document?

Yes, for this scholarship. Item 7 of the documents list in the scholarship guide requires a pre-admission document issued by the universities you are applying to; it gives a pre-admission notice from the international students' admission department or an invitation letter from a school or professor as examples.

Does the scholarship guide set the application deadline?

No. The scholarship guide gives no date for any of the seven steps and states no application deadline; the dates that apply are set by the application receiving authority handling your case.

Sources

• Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
• Application for the Scholarship of Chinese Government (page dated 17 September 2009) — Ministry of Education of the PRC, English website (en.moe.gov.cn)

Checked 11 October 2026

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