Can I do an exchange semester in China?
Unofficial answer · Sources checked
Yes. If your home university has an exchange or cooperation agreement with a Chinese university, you can enrol there as a non-degree student for a semester. The Chinese host university must run attendance and assessment and give you a transcript, proof of study and a credit-hour record, and the length of study decides the visa: 180 days or less is short-term study for the X2 visa, longer is long-term study for the X1 visa.
The English rendering of the Chinese-language texts quoted on this page is this site's own translation.
What the rules say
Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, Article 9, sets the categories of international student enrolment. The degree categories are junior college students, undergraduates, master's degree students and doctoral degree students. The non-degree categories are preparatory students, advanced students and research scholars. An exchange through a university agreement is not degree study; the articles read for this page do not state which of the three non-degree categories an exchange or visiting student is registered under.
The 2018 Quality Standards for Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial), section 10.6, cover teaching management for course-study non-degree education. Where a university accepts international students to study specialised courses through inter-school cooperation, student exchange or visiting study, it must apply attendance and examination or assessment rules under the Standards, and it must truthfully provide course transcripts, proof of study and a credit-hour statement. The Standards are a trial document addressed to higher education institutions: they say what a university's own rules must contain, and section 10.6 does not set application dates, fees or a list of universities.
Order No. 42, Article 45, defines study length for the Measures: short-term study is study at a school in China for no more than 180 days inclusive, and long-term study is study for more than 180 days. A semester of 180 days or less is therefore short-term study; a longer period is long-term study.
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners, Article 6(11), say that the X1 visa is issued to persons who apply for long-term study in China and the X2 visa to persons who apply for short-term study in China. Article 36(4) and (5) of the same Regulations define short-term as staying in China for a period not exceeding 180 days inclusive, and long-term or resident as residing in China for a period exceeding 180 days. So short-term study under the education rule lines up with the X2 visa, and long-term study with the X1 visa.
Who decides
Your home university and the Chinese host university decide the exchange place through their own agreement; the official pages read for this page do not name a government office that approves the exchange itself. The host university carries the teaching-management duties in section 10.6 and issues the transcript, proof of study and credit-hour record.
For the Chinese Government Scholarship, the Application Guide's section IV describes the Student Exchange Program: it is launched under exchange and cooperation agreements between Chinese universities and their foreign partners, it supports general and senior scholars for a training session of no more than 12 months, and an applicant files the application with Chinese universities and their foreign partners. That is a condition of this scholarship programme, not a rule for studying in China in general. The Application Guide page carries no publication date and no academic year.
For the visa, the Regulations state which visa corresponds to long-term or short-term study, but the articles read for this page do not name the office that examines an X1 or X2 application; ask the embassy or visa centre handling your case. The articles read for this page also do not state the non-degree enrolment category used for an exchange student; ask the Chinese university's international student office.
What the official pages do not say
The Student Exchange Program in the scholarship guide is described as supporting general and senior scholars for a training session of no more than 12 months. The sections read for this page do not state whether an undergraduate on a one-semester exchange can be supported under that programme, nor how the 12-month maximum relates to the 180-day study line.
Order No. 42, Article 45, and the Regulations, Article 36, both use a 180-day line, but the articles read for this page do not state how days outside China, holidays or enrolment reporting are counted when the two are compared.
The 2018 Quality Standards section read for this page requires the host to issue records; it does not say what the university does with those records for a home university's credit transfer. Ask the international student office of the host university.
Related questions
Is an exchange student in China a degree student?
No. Under Order No. 42, Article 9, degree study covers junior college, undergraduate, master's and doctoral students, while non-degree study covers preparatory students, advanced students and research scholars; an exchange through inter-school cooperation is non-degree. The articles read for this page do not state which of the three non-degree categories an exchange student is placed in.
Which student visa applies to a one-semester exchange?
A semester of 180 days or less is short-term study under Order No. 42, Article 45, and the X2 visa is the one for short-term study under the Regulations, Article 6(11). If the study lasts more than 180 days it is long-term study and the corresponding application is for the X1 visa.
Does the Chinese Government Scholarship have an exchange programme?
Yes, the guide's section IV describes the Student Exchange Program. It is launched under exchange and cooperation agreements between Chinese universities and their foreign partners, supports general and senior scholars for a training session of no more than 12 months, and applications are filed with Chinese universities and their foreign partners.
Sources
- Administrative Measures for the Enrolment and Education of International Students by Schools (Order No. 42) — 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)
- Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners — National Immigration Administration
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, and the official text and the instructions of the university, embassy or exit-entry office handling your case prevail if they differ.