Frequently asked questions about studying in China

Apply directly through the university's own international admissions system. You need a passport, notarised diploma and transcripts with certified translations, a study plan or research proposal, two recommendation letters for graduate programmes, a Foreigner Physical Examination Form and a police clearance certificate. Application fees are CNY 400–800 per university and are paid to the university, not to an intermediary. Most bachelor's deadlines fall between December and April for a September start.

Not for English-taught programmes. China has a growing English-taught portfolio concentrated in engineering, business, computer science, public health, law and China studies at master's level, and a smaller number of English-taught bachelor's programmes. For Chinese-taught programmes you need HSK 4 for postgraduate study and HSK 5 for undergraduate study at competitive universities.

Tuition is typically CNY 20,000–50,000 per year for bachelor's and most master's programmes, CNY 45,000–80,000 for MBBS, and frequently zero for funded research degrees. Dormitory accommodation costs CNY 5,000–20,000 per year. Total living costs range from CNY 2,100 per month in cities such as Wuhan, Xi'an and Changchun to CNY 7,000 in Beijing and Shanghai.

The CSC scholarship, administered by the China Scholarship Council, covers full tuition, on-campus accommodation, comprehensive medical insurance and a monthly stipend of CNY 2,500 for undergraduates, CNY 3,000 for master's students and CNY 3,500 for doctoral students. It is tenable at around 300 designated Chinese universities. Deadlines fall between 1 and 22 February depending on your country's embassy.

CSCA is the China Scholastic Competency Assessment, an academic subject test. Every applicant for a Chinese Government Scholarship undergraduate programme must sit it and upload a valid score report. Register at csca.cn. It tests academic subjects and reasoning, not Chinese language.

HSK 3 for language training and general scholar programmes, HSK 4 for Chinese-taught master's and doctoral degrees, HSK 5 for Chinese-taught bachelor's degrees at competitive universities, and HSK 6 for law, journalism and Chinese literature. English-taught programmes do not require HSK.

In the QS 2026 rankings the leading mainland universities are Peking University, Tsinghua, Fudan, Shanghai Jiao Tong and Zhejiang. In ARWU Tsinghua, Peking and Zhejiang lead; in THE, Tsinghua has ranked as the highest-placed university in Asia. The "best" university depends on your field: Tsinghua for engineering, Peking for humanities and basic sciences, Zhejiang for computer science and agriculture, Tongji for architecture and civil engineering, Sichuan for dentistry, Beijing Normal for education.

Yes. Since 2020 the Chinese Government Scholarship has required every applicant to upload at least one pre-admission document issued by a target university — a pre-admission notice, an invitation letter from a school or a supervisor's acceptance letter. Applications without one are rejected automatically. This means the university application must be completed before the scholarship deadline.

An X1 visa for study longer than 180 days — which covers all degree programmes — and an X2 visa for shorter study. Both require the university admission notice and the Visa Application for Study in China form: JW201 for scholarship holders, JW202 for self-funded students, or the DQ form for X2 applicants. Holders of an X1 visa must apply for a residence permit within 30 days of entry.

Yes, under conditions. You must have completed at least one academic year, obtain approval from your university and supporting documents from the employer or internship organisation, and have an annotation added to your residence permit by the local exit-entry administration bureau recording the location and duration. Term-time work is generally capped at around eight hours per week. Working without the annotation is illegal even if your school knows about it.

Degrees from universities on the Ministry of Education list of recognised institutions are recognised internationally, and China has mutual recognition agreements with dozens of countries. For professional degrees — medicine, dentistry, law, engineering with licensure — recognition is governed by your own country's regulator, and several medical councils require a qualifying examination. Verify with your regulator before enrolling.

Yes, in several ways. The Chinese Government Scholarship, Confucius Institute Scholarship, provincial schemes (Shanghai, Beijing, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Guangdong and others) and university-level awards all cover tuition, and many also fund accommodation, insurance and a monthly stipend. Most international doctoral students in science and engineering are fully funded through CSC, university fellowships or a supervisor's research grant.

Bachelor's programmes: typically 1 December to 30 April for September entry. Graduate programmes: December to April, programme-specific. Chinese Government Scholarship: the portal opens 5 November, with embassy deadlines between 1 and 22 February. Confucius Institute Scholarship: mid-February to late April for September entry. Chinese language programmes have four intake points a year at most universities.

Around 380,000 international students from 191 countries and regions studied in China during the most recently reported academic year, of whom about 205,000 were degree-seeking and 35% of those were postgraduates. Chinese government scholarship recipients accounted for roughly 8% of the total. Engineering was the most popular field, chosen by more than a quarter of degree-seeking students.

Yes, by the standards of large cities worldwide. Violent crime affecting international students is rare and Chinese campuses are secure and supervised. The realistic risks are traffic — particularly silent electric scooters — and administrative errors with visas and residence permits, which cause more difficulty than crime does.

No. Chinese universities accept international applications directly through their own online systems, and application fees go to the university. No agent has a separate quota, and no scholarship place is sold. Agents can be genuinely useful for document authentication and for scholarship strategy, but they cannot obtain admission that a direct applicant cannot.

Type A is the embassy route: you apply through the Chinese embassy or designated agency in your country, and the embassy reviews applications and forwards candidates to CSC. Type B is the university route: you apply to a designated Chinese university, which nominates you. The schemes are assessed by different committees, so most successful applicants use both.

Yes. The English-taught MBBS is a five- or six-year programme available at many Chinese universities, with tuition of CNY 45,000–80,000 per year. However, licensing recognition differs sharply by country: medical councils in India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Malaysia and elsewhere maintain their own lists of recognised Chinese institutions and several require a qualifying examination. Verify with your regulator before applying.

Contact prospective supervisors eight to twelve months before the deadline with a short, specific email that references their recent publications and proposes a concrete research direction. Include a one-page CV and transcripts. Expect a low response rate: fifteen tailored emails producing three replies is a normal outcome. Supervisors determine funding, equipment access and your graduation timeline, so this is the most decisive step in the application.

CNY 5,000–20,000 per year for international student accommodation, depending on the city, room type and standard. Standard rooms are double occupancy with a shared bathroom and air conditioning; newer international buildings offer single rooms or studios at the higher end. Most universities require first-year students to live on campus, and dormitories are typically 40–60% cheaper than equivalent market rent.

At top universities, in international student offices and in English-taught programmes, yes. In daily life outside campus, considerably less so than in Shanghai or Beijing city centres. Basic Mandarin dramatically improves the experience: student accounts consistently identify conversational Chinese as the gate to friendships, internships and employment involving China.

Yes. Working in China after graduation requires a Z visa and a work permit obtained by the employer, using a points-based system that rewards a Chinese degree and higher qualification level. The work permit generally requires two years of relevant post-graduation experience unless you hold a higher degree or meet other exemption criteria, so some graduates first work for a Chinese company in their home country and transfer in.

Beijing and Shanghai for the highest-ranked universities, the largest international communities and the best internship access, at the highest cost. Guangzhou and Shenzhen for industry access at lower cost. Wuhan, Xi'an, Chengdu and Changchun for the best value — project 985 universities at roughly half the living costs of Beijing. Nanjing, Hangzhou, Tianjin and Suzhou for a balance of quality, cost and Shanghai access.

Yes, but the portfolio is small relative to the tens of thousands of Chinese-taught programmes, and it is concentrated at specific universities: Tsinghua, Peking, Shanghai Jiao Tong, Zhejiang, Fudan, Tongji, Beihang, BIT, NPU, HIT and SUSTech, plus the Sino-foreign universities Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool and Duke Kunshan. Outside these, English-taught bachelor's provision is mostly MBBS, business administration and international economics.