How to apply to Chinese universities for graduate study: who decides what

When you apply for a master's or doctoral place at a university in mainland China, the admission decision belongs to the university alone: it examines your admission qualifications and your proof of financial guarantee, gives you an examination or assessment, and decides the result (Order No. 42, Article 12). If you apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship, two more parties take part — an application receiving agency recommends you, and the China Scholarship Council examines applications, finalises the shortlist and notifies the result (Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, section V). No outside agency or individual may be entrusted with a university's admission work (Quality Standards, section 2.7).

The two Ministry of Education documents quoted here are published in Chinese. The English wording on this page is this site's translation.

Who decides what, at a glance

Who decides	What they decide	Source
The university	Whether you are admitted. It examines your admission qualifications and your proof of financial guarantee, and gives you an examination or assessment; if you do not meet the enrolment conditions, it may not recruit you	Order No. 42, Article 12
The university	Its international student enrolment plan and the majors it offers, except where the state provides otherwise	Order No. 42, Article 10
The university	The conditions and procedures of admission, as set out in the admissions brochure it formulates and publishes	Order No. 42, Article 11
The university	The admission result, under clear procedures and rules, on the basis of entrance examination or assessment results, taking national needs and social public interests into account, with written records of important matters in the admission work kept and properly archived	Quality Standards, section 2.3
No outside agency or individual	Nothing: admission work may not be entrusted to any external agency or individual	Quality Standards, section 2.7
An application receiving agency	Whether to recommend you; it submits the recommended candidates list and the applicants' documents	Application Guide, section V, steps 3 and 5
The China Scholarship Council	It organises designated universities and experts concerned to examine eligibility and academic performance, finalises the shortlist and notifies the results	Application Guide, section V, steps 6 and 7

The university: the only body that decides admission

A higher education institution that recruits international students must have the corresponding education and teaching conditions and the capacity to train them, and recruits international students on its own in accordance with the relevant national regulations (Order No. 42, Article 7). It determines its own international student enrolment plan and majors according to those conditions and that capacity, except where the state provides otherwise (Article 10).

The same institution formulates and publishes its own international student admissions brochure under the national enrolment regulations and recruits according to the conditions and procedures written in that brochure (Article 11). This is why dates, fees, language evidence, length of study and the programme list that apply to your case are the ones in the brochure of the university you apply to; this page names no university and states none of those values.

The decision itself is made under rules of procedure too. Admission is decided on the basis of entrance examination or assessment results, taking national needs and social public interests into account, under procedures and rules the university has to define clearly, and the important matters of the admission work must be recorded in writing and properly archived (Quality Standards, section 2.3).

A planning suggestion, not a rule: read the admissions brochure of the university you are applying to first and keep it as your reference point, because that is the document whose conditions and procedures your application is measured against. This page is only a map of who decides what; the sequence of tasks is set out in the application steps guide.

No one may take the university's place

Under the Quality Standards, section 2.7, a university's international student recruitment and admission work must strictly follow the relevant national regulations and may not be entrusted to any external agency or individual acting as its agent. Where a university does use external services in providing admissions information and consultation, it must act on prudent, standardised, open and transparent principles, strictly fulfil its regulatory responsibility under the relevant national regulations or standards, and safeguard educational order and the lawful rights and interests of international students.

Neither document quoted on this page converts a consultant, an agent or a service provider into a decision-maker. The decision is the university's, and the university keeps it.

The scholarship: two more parties, and a different place to file

For the Chinese Government Scholarship, the guide sets out categories of the scholarship and a seven-step application process. Three of the categories are relevant to degree study, and each has its own place to file an application:

• Bilateral Program. It follows the cooperation and exchange agreements or the consensus reached between the Chinese government and the governments and institutions of other nations, and is open to undergraduates, postgraduates, general and senior scholars. You file the application with the dispatching department of your home country.
• University Program. You file the application with the Chinese universities undertaking the programme. The student categories supported vary and are subject to the requirements of each of those universities.
• Designated Scholarship Programs. These are set up under cooperation agreements between China and international organisations and institutions, and you file the application with the international organisation or institution concerned.

The seven steps of section V of the guide run as follows:

1. You: learn about the designated universities and the majors they offer, on campuschina.org or by other means, and identify your preferred scholarship programme, university and major.
2. You: obtain the admission documents from the designated university.
3. You: obtain a recommendation from an application receiving agency.
4. You: complete and submit the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online in the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System.
5. The application receiving agency: submit the recommended candidates list and the applicants' documents.
6. The China Scholarship Council: organise the designated universities and experts concerned to examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance, and finalise the shortlist.
7. The China Scholarship Council: notify the admission results to the application receiving agency, which then informs you.

Two things follow from that list. The university is still the body that issues your admission documents, and the agency and the Council act on the scholarship. The conditions stated in the guide — its eligibility requirements and its document requirements — are conditions of the Chinese Government Scholarship; they are not general admission rules for students who apply without it. The funding section of this site covers the scholarship separately from admission.

A planning suggestion, not a rule: keep two checklists, one from the university's brochure and one from the scholarship guide, because they come from different bodies and can ask for different things.

Questions people ask

Can an agency or consultant decide my admission?

No. Under the Quality Standards, section 2.7, a university's international student recruitment and admission work may not be entrusted to any external agency or individual. External services may be used for admissions information and consultation, and where they are, the university must follow prudent, standardised, open and transparent principles and carry out its regulatory responsibility.

Who publishes the entry requirements for a programme?

The university does, in its international student admissions brochure. Order No. 42, Article 11 requires it to formulate and publish that brochure under the national enrolment regulations and to recruit according to the conditions and procedures stated in it.

Does the China Scholarship Council decide whether the university admits me?

No. The provisions quoted on this page place the admission decision with the university (Order No. 42, Article 12) and the shortlisting decision with the China Scholarship Council, which organises designated universities and experts concerned to examine eligibility and academic performance (Application Guide, section V, step 6).

Who tells me the scholarship result?

The China Scholarship Council notifies the admission results to the application receiving agency, and that agency then informs you (Application Guide, section V, step 7).

Does the guide give an application deadline?

No. The guide page carries no publication date and no academic year, and gives no application deadline.

Sources

• Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42) — Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
• Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial) — Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
• Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)

Checked 11 October 2026

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