What documents do I need for a Chinese university application?

The list that binds you is the document list in the admission brochure of the university you are applying to; higher education institutions formulate and publish their own international student admission brochures and recruit international students in accordance with the conditions and procedures set out in them (Order No. 42, Article 11). Nationally, the university must examine your entry qualification and your proof of financial guarantee and give you an examination or assessment, and admission is decided by the university itself (Order No. 42, Article 12). If you apply for the Chinese Government Scholarship, that scholarship publishes its own thirteen-item document list, which is a condition of the scholarship and not a national admission rule.

What the rules say

The English used below for Order No. 42 and for the 2018 quality standards is this site's translation of the Chinese text read for this page. Under Article 11 of Order No. 42, a higher education institution must, in accordance with the national recruitment regulations, formulate and publish its own international student admission brochure, and recruit students according to the conditions and procedures in that brochure; for that institution, those conditions and procedures are the binding rules.

Article 12 sets the national floor. The institution shall examine the entry qualification and financial guarantee certificate of each foreign citizen applying, and shall conduct an examination or assessment of the applicant. Admission of international students is decided by the school, and a person who does not meet the enrolment conditions must not be recruited. The 2018 quality standards, section 2.2, state that higher education institutions shall conduct an entrance examination or assessment to ensure admitted students reach the set admission standards, and shall clearly prescribe the academic level requirements and evaluation method, evaluating the applicant's academic level accurately from his or her academic transcripts and academic achievements in education history, results of Chinese education examinations, and results of credible foreign education examinations.

The 2018 quality standards, section 2.1, require the university's own admissions information to cover, at a minimum, these categories: basic information about the institution, such as the city and its facilities; its education programmes, including academic level, training objectives, length of schooling, degree awarded, and transfer regulations; admission procedures and admission requirements, such as application time limit and method, admission standards, examination or assessment method, economic guarantee requirements, violation handling and admission schedule; financial rules and policies, such as fee rates, payment method and refund policy; campus culture and life, such as dormitory or apartment conditions and how to apply, food, medical care, insurance, transport, cultural and sports activities and student societies; and consultation contact information and complaint reporting channels. Those 2018 standards are a trial standard addressed to higher education institutions, stating what their published rules must contain; it is not an application guide and gives no dates or list of universities.

Who decides

Admission is decided by the higher education institution, not by a ministry or national body named in Order No. 42: Article 12 states that admission of international students is decided by the school, and the school must not recruit an applicant who does not meet the enrolment conditions. Section 2.2 of the 2018 quality standards repeats that the institution must examine or assess applicants so that admitted students reach the admission standards it has set. Because each institution sets and publishes its own brochure under Article 11, two universities can ask for different papers; the articles read for this page do not set one common list.

The Chinese Government Scholarship document list

The following thirteen items are printed in section VI (Application Documents) of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, published by the China Scholarship Council on Campus China. They are conditions of that scholarship application only, not general conditions for studying in China, and they do not replace your university's own admission brochure.

1. Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship (filled in online);
2. Applicants are required to submit a clear scanned copy of the information page of their ordinary passports. If the validity period of the currently held passport is less than 12 months (calculated from the expected start date of study), please renew the passport and use it to complete the scholarship application. An applicant who fails to apply for a passport due to objective reasons may submit valid documentation or documentary evidence that carries information about the full English name, gender, nationality and date of birth of the applicant upon the approval of the application receiving agency;
3. Diploma and certificate of highest education (notarized photocopy). An applicant who is a current university student shall submit the certificate of expected graduation or student status issued by his/her university;
4. Academic records. Academic records in languages other than Chinese or English shall be attached with notarized translations in Chinese or English;
5. Language qualification certificates. Applicants for master's, doctoral, general scholar, and senior scholar programs taught in Chinese must submit a valid HSK score report that meets the corresponding Chinese language proficiency requirements. Applicants for programs taught in other languages are required to provide relevant language proficiency certificates, such as IELTS or TOEFL score reports, in accordance with the requirements of each university;
6. CSCA Score Report. Applicants seeking to pursue a bachelor's degree must register for and take the CSCA before the application deadline, and obtain a valid Score Report. Please contact the target institution to inquire about and obtain the required test subjects for the applied major;
7. Pre-Admission Documents. All applicants must provide a pre-admission document issued by the universities applying. Pre-admission documents include pre-admission notice issued by the international students’ admission department or invitation letter from the schools or professors, etc.
8. A study or research plan written in Chinese or in English (no less than 200 words/characters for undergraduates; no less than 500 words/characters for scholars; no less than 1000 words/characters for postgraduates);
9. Recommendation letters. An applicant for a postgraduate program or for academic education as a senior scholar shall submit two recommendation letters in Chinese or in English from professors or associate professors;
10. An applicant for the arts or design program shall provide his/her own works (such as videos and paintings);
11. An applicant under the age of 18 shall submit the legal documents of his/her legal guardian(s) in China;
12. An applicant to study in China for more than six months shall submit a photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form (the original document, printed by Chinese quarantine authorities, shall be filled in in English and kept by the applicant). The medical examinations must cover all the items listed in the Foreigner Physical Examination Form. Incomplete records or those without the signature of the attending physician, the official stamp of the hospital, or a sealed photograph of the applicant are invalid. Medical examination results are valid for only six months;
13. An applicant shall submit a valid Certificate of Non-Criminal Record (or Police Clearance Certificate) issued by the local public security (such as the police station), usually issued within six months prior to the submission date of the application.

The scholarship guide page read carries no publication date and no academic year, so this page cannot say which intake or academic year the list describes.

What the official pages do not say

The articles and sections read for this page do not publish one national document list for all international students applying to Chinese universities; the binding list is each institution's own admission brochure (Order No. 42, Article 11). They do not enumerate the specific papers that make up entry qualification or acceptable proof of financial guarantee, and no amounts, tuition, living-cost or fee figures are printed in the Order No. 42 or 2018 quality standards pages read. The quality standards require the university to publish economic guarantee requirements, but they do not state what those documents are or how much money must be shown. The pages read do not name a single national office that fixes one general list.

For the exact documents your programme asks for, read the admission brochure of the university you are applying to, or ask that university's international student office. This site does not fill the gap from practice, from forums or from another country's mission, and it gives no figures the official pages do not print.

Related questions

Who decides whether I am admitted?

Admission is decided by the higher education institution (Order No. 42, Article 12). That article also requires the institution to examine your entry qualification and proof of financial guarantee, to conduct an examination or assessment, and forbids recruiting anyone who does not meet the enrolment conditions. The institution sets those conditions and publishes them in its own admission brochure (Article 11).

Does one national list cover every university application?

The articles read do not publish such a list. Order No. 42, Article 11 makes each higher education institution's own admission brochure binding, and the 2018 quality standards, section 2.1, require that published admissions information include the application time limit and method, admission standards, examination or assessment method, economic guarantee requirements, violation handling and admission schedule, among other categories, but they do not list the papers themselves. Read the brochure of the university you are applying to, or ask its international student office.

What documents are specific to the Chinese Government Scholarship?

Section VI of that scholarship's guide gives thirteen items, including a notarized photocopy of the highest diploma, notarized translations of academic records in languages other than Chinese or English, a valid HSK score report for Chinese-taught master's, doctoral, general scholar and senior scholar programmes, or IELTS or TOEFL and similar certificates as each university requires for programmes in other languages. It also requires a valid CSCA score report before the application deadline for bachelor's-degree applicants, pre-admission documents, a study or research plan of the set minimum length, two recommendation letters from professors or associate professors for postgraduate or senior scholar academic applicants, guardian documents if the applicant is under 18, a photocopy of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form whose results are valid for only six months, and a Certificate of Non-Criminal Record usually issued within six months prior to submission. Those items are conditions of that scholarship, not a general admission checklist.

Sources

• Administrative Measures for the Enrolment and Education of International Students by Schools (Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security) — Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (moe.gov.cn)
• Quality Standards for Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial), attachment to Ministry of Education notice Jiaowai (2018) No. 50 — Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (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 legal or immigration advice, is not published by or affiliated with the bodies named or any ministry, embassy, scholarship body or university, and the official text and the instructions of the university, embassy or exit-entry office handling your case prevail if they differ.