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Unofficial guide · sources checked 11 October 2026

A master's or PhD in China, planned backwards.

Pick the month your programme starts. The planner counts back through ten steps and tells you which ones are fixed by an official rule and which are only good timing.

Showing the sequence in months before the start. Choose your start month to turn it into dates.

-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1Start
1Shortlist programmes and read each admissions brochure
2Check your passport's expiry date
3Sit the language test you need
4Contact the school or a prospective supervisor
5Prepare the plan, letters, certificates and transcripts
6Physical examination and police certificate
7Submit the application
8Receive the admission notice and the JW form
9Apply for the X1 visa
10Arrive, register and apply for the residence permit

rests on an official rule or guide planning suggestion

  1. 01 14 mo before → 12 mo before
    Planning suggestion

    Shortlist programmes and read each admissions brochure

    Note the teaching language, entry requirements, application window and whether a supervisor's agreement is asked for. These are set by each university in its brochure.

    Why here: Universities set their own programmes and admit by their published brochure. MOE Order No. 42, Articles 10, 11 and 23

  2. 02 13 mo before → 12 mo before
    Official rule

    Check your passport's expiry date

    If it will have less than 12 months left on the day study starts, renew it before you apply.

    Why here: The scholarship guide counts 12 months of validity from the expected start of study. CSC application guide, section VI, item 2

  3. 03 12 mo before → 10 mo before
    Official rule

    Sit the language test you need

    Chinese-taught programme: HSK. Programme taught in another language: the test named in the university's brochure.

    Why here: Scholarship applicants need HSK Level 4 for a Chinese-taught master's or doctoral programme; other teaching languages follow the university's requirement. CSC application guide, section IV, items 10 and 11

  4. 04 11 mo before → 9 mo before
    Planning suggestion

    Contact the school or a prospective supervisor

    Ask the international admissions office what it issues before formal admission, and write to potential supervisors with your CV and a draft plan.

    Why here: Scholarship applicants must hold a pre-admission document: a pre-admission notice, or an invitation letter from the school or a professor. CSC application guide, section VI, item 7

  5. 05 10 mo before → 9 mo before
    Official rule

    Prepare the plan, letters, certificates and transcripts

    A study or research plan of at least 1,000 words, two recommendation letters from professors or associate professors, a notarized copy of your highest degree and your transcripts.

    Why here: These are the documents the scholarship guide lists for postgraduates. CSC application guide, section VI, items 3, 4, 8 and 9

  6. 06 9 mo before → 7 mo before
    Official rule

    Physical examination and police certificate

    Have the Foreigner Physical Examination Form completed and obtain a certificate of no criminal record. Do both close to the date you submit: each is good for about six months.

    Why here: Examination results are valid for six months; the police certificate is usually issued within six months before submission. CSC application guide, section VI, items 12 and 13

  7. 07 9 mo before → 6 mo before
    Planning suggestion

    Submit the application

    Apply online and send what the receiving body asks for. The real opening and closing dates are in the university's brochure or the scholarship notice for your country.

    Why here: Universities admit by their own brochure. For the Chinese Government Scholarship, a Ministry of Education page dated 2009 gives the recruiting period as normally January to April, with details set locally; the current guide prints no dates. MOE Order No. 42, Article 11MOE English page on the scholarship (2009), Application ProceduresCSC application guide, section V

  8. 08 4 mo before → 3 mo before
    Planning suggestion

    Receive the admission notice and the JW form

    Check names, passport number and study dates on both papers against your passport as soon as they arrive.

    Why here: The JW201 or JW202 is issued by the China Scholarship Council or the school, and is needed for the visa, entry, registration and residence formalities. MOE reply on JW201/JW202, reply

  9. 09 2 mo before →
    Official rule

    Apply for the X1 visa

    Apply at the Chinese embassy or consulate for your country of nationality or residence, with the admission notice and the JW form.

    Why here: The visa is applied for before entry, by length of study; X1 covers study of more than 180 days. MOE Order No. 42, Article 35Entry-Exit Regulations, Articles 6(11) and 7(11)

  10. 10 start →
    Official rule

    Arrive, register and apply for the residence permit

    Register your address within 24 hours if you are not in a hotel, complete the health check and insurance at enrolment, and apply for the residence permit for study within 30 days of entry.

    Why here: The 24-hour and 30-day limits are set by the Exit and Entry Administration Law. Exit and Entry Administration Law, Articles 30 and 39MOE Order No. 42, Articles 36, 39 and 40

The windows are a planning aid built from the general sequence in the official texts cited above. They are not deadlines. This tool does not know any university's dates: take those from the admissions brochure of each university and from the scholarship notice for your country.

Five parts

What to read, in the order you will need it

Each part states what the official texts say and links to them.

  1. 1

    Programmes

    What a master's or doctoral programme for international students is under Chinese rules: the categories of study, the teaching language, and what the admissions brochure of each university has to tell you.

  2. 2

    Applying

    The papers a graduate application is built from: degree certificates and transcripts, the study or research plan, recommendation letters, the pre-admission letter from a school or professor, the physical examination form.

  3. 3

    Funding

    Chinese Government Scholarship or self-funded: who can apply for the scholarship at master's and doctoral level, what it pays, and what Chinese rules require of every student regardless of funding.

  4. 4

    Degrees and graduation

    Academic and professional degrees, what the Degree Law asks of a master's and a doctoral candidate, the thesis language, and how a Chinese qualification is registered and verified.

  5. 5

    Visa and arrival

    The X1 visa, the JW form that comes with your admission notice, and the residence permit you apply for within 30 days of entering China.

From the official texts

Four things graduate applicants ask first

Quoted from the China Scholarship Council's application guide and the Degree Law.

3 guides

Guides

Longer walk-throughs, each with its sources listed at the end.

Sources

The texts behind this site

Read on 11 October 2026. The site does not publish admission rates and does not know any university's deadlines; those come from each university's own brochure.

Graduate Desk