Tuition and fees in China: what universities must publish, and why every figure is in renminbi

Tuition figures for international students in China are not written into the national rules: Order No. 42 requires each university to publish its own fee items, fee standards and refund rules, and requires charging and refunds to be denominated in renminbi (Order No. 42, Article 14). What protects you is that publishing them is a duty, not a courtesy — a university that fails to publish its fee items and standards, or that does not charge by them, can be ordered to rectify and can have its international student recruitment restricted (Order No. 42, Article 44, item 3). Both documents used on this page are published in Chinese; the English wording here is this site's own translation.

The provision that answers the question

Order No. 42 is the Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students, issued by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security. It was signed on 20 March 2017 and took effect on 1 July 2017 (Article 48); its chapters 2 to 5 apply to higher education institutions (Article 2).

Article 14 does three things in three short sentences:

• It sets the basis: a university's fee items and standards for international students follow the relevant national regulations.
• It sets the duty: the university must publish its fee items, fee standards, and its refund rules for withdrawal and for transfer to another institution.
• It sets the currency: charging and refunds are denominated in renminbi.

So the number you are looking for sits in the material the university itself publishes. The provisions quoted on this page contain no fee amount, and there is no national figure to compare a university's figure against.

What the university has to publish, and where

The Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial) are addressed to universities, and they describe what a university must set, publish or do. Section 2.1 requires a university to provide prospective international students with admission information that is truthful, comprehensive and suited to international students, using the internet and other information technology. That information must include at least:

• basic facts about the university, such as an overview of its city and its conditions for running the school;
• the education programmes, such as the level of study, training objectives, length of study, degree awarded, and rules on transfer between institutions and between programmes;
• admission procedures and entry requirements, such as application deadlines and methods, entry standards, examination and assessment methods, financial guarantee requirements, handling of violations, and the admission calendar;
• financial rules and policies, such as fee standards, payment methods and refund policy;
• campus culture and life, such as dormitory or apartment conditions and how to apply for them, food, medical care, insurance, transport, cultural and sports activities, and student organisations;
• consultation contacts and channels for complaints and reporting.

The fee items, fee standards and refund rules required by Order No. 42, Article 14 belong in that published admission information. The standards are marked "trial", and where they leave a matter to each university they say so; the admission brochure of the university you are dealing with is where its own decisions appear.

A planning suggestion, not a requirement: read the financial section of the admissions material before you apply, and keep the published refund rules with your payment records, so that the refund rules you relied on are the ones you can point to later.

Why every figure is in renminbi

Article 14 states that both charging and refunds are denominated in renminbi. The rule covers both directions of the same transaction, not only the invoice: what you are charged, and what is returned to you on withdrawal or on transfer to another institution, are expressed in renminbi.

The provisions quoted on this page do not cover exchange rates, payment schedules, instalments or bank charges. Those belong to the university's own published rules and to whatever your bank applies, so treat any figure you convert yourself as your own calculation rather than as the university's published figure.

Two more places where the standards touch fees

The Quality Standards refer to fees in two further contexts, and they are narrower than tuition:

• Teaching facilities and resources (section 8). A university must provide sufficient and qualified teaching facilities and resources — classrooms, laboratories, libraries, reading rooms, teaching and laboratory equipment, computer networks and electronic resources. It must ensure that Chinese and international students use the teaching facilities and resources the university provides under equal conditions, management rules and fee standards. This is a rule about teaching facilities and resources, not about tuition.
• Funding and scholarship management (section 13.1). A university must provide adequate funding for the teaching, management and services it gives international students. Funds related to international student education are brought into the university's unified financial management and centralised accounting, and the university makes its fee policies and specific management measures for international students in accordance with the relevant national regulations. It also makes a scholarship management system, uses scholarship funds on regulated, reasonable and efficient principles, applies the academic and conduct requirements for scholarship recipients strictly, and sets up periodic review and dynamic adjustment. See also the site's funding page for how this page treats funding topics generally.

What happens if a university does not publish or follow its own fees

Article 44 lists behaviours in the recruitment and education of international students for which the competent education administrative department must order the university to rectify, must pursue legal liability under the Education Law of the People's Republic of China, and may restrict the university's recruitment of international students. The item closest to this page's question is item 3: not publishing fee items and standards, or not charging by the published items and standards. Item 2 covers seeking profit in the recruitment process. The remaining items concern admissions in violation of national and university rules, improper award of degree or study certificates, teaching quality or management and service failures with adverse social impact, and other unlawful or rule-breaking acts.

The remedy is administrative and directed at the university. The provisions quoted on this page do not set out an individual complaint procedure for a fee dispute; section 2.1 does require universities to publish consultation contacts and channels for complaints and reporting, which is where a student would start.

Questions people ask

Do the national rules set a tuition fee for international students?

No fee amount appears in the provisions quoted on this page. Order No. 42, Article 14 sets who publishes fee items and standards and in what currency, and the Quality Standards, section 2.1, requires fee standards to appear in the admission information a university publishes. The figure itself is the university's, published in its own material.

Must a university publish its refund rules?

Yes. Order No. 42, Article 14 requires publication of the refund rules for withdrawal and for transfer to another institution, and section 2.1 of the Quality Standards lists refund policy among the financial rules and policies that admission information must include.

Are fees charged in renminbi or in a foreign currency?

Order No. 42, Article 14 states that charging and refunds are denominated in renminbi. That covers what is charged to you and what is refunded to you.

Can international students be charged more than Chinese students for teaching facilities?

Section 8 of the Quality Standards requires a university to ensure that Chinese and international students use the teaching facilities and resources it provides under equal conditions, management rules and fee standards. The rule is about teaching facilities and resources such as classrooms, laboratories, libraries and electronic resources, not about tuition.

What can happen to a university that does not publish its fee standards?

Under Order No. 42, Article 44, item 3, the competent education administrative department must order the university to rectify, must pursue legal liability under the Education Law of the People's Republic of China, and may restrict its recruitment of international students.

Sources

• Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42), Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
• Notice 教外〔2018〕50号 issuing the Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial), Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
• Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial), attachment to notice 教外〔2018〕50号, Ministry of Education of the PRC (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, the China Scholarship Council, CHSI or any university, it is not legal advice, and where it differs from the official text or from the current notice of the university or authority handling your case, the official text and that notice prevail.