The 2027 window is now open, with a confirmed deadline
The Academy has now published exactly what it promised: applications for the 2027 cohort opened 1 September 2026 and close 30 November 2026 at 9:00am Beijing time, for international applicants and Hong Kong/Macao/Taiwan applicants alike. If you are a student or alumnus of one of the Academy’s partner universities, read the fine print before assuming this date applies directly to you: you have to clear your own university’s internal pre-selection process first, on a timetable the Academy does not control and does not publish here.
The English test requirements are strict, and broader than they first appear
The English test requirements are strict enough to plan around now. IELTS Academic 7.0, TOEFL iBT 100, Cambridge English Scale Advanced 185, CET 6 overall 600, or TEM 4 at “良好” (good) level or above, all taken after 1 September 2025. Home editions, indicator tests and MyBest score reports are explicitly not accepted, and scores have to be sent directly by the testing organisation rather than uploaded by the applicant. Recommendation letters are equally specific: Peking University will only accept them from full or associate professors, in the field the applicant intends to study.
A specific documentation trap for former Chinese, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan citizens
One eligibility detail is easy to miss if it applies to you: former citizens of the Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan who have since emigrated and now want to apply as international students need a passport or citizenship document dated before 30 April 2021, along with proof that their Chinese nationality has been formally cancelled. This isn’t a general nationality rule; it only applies to applicants with that specific personal history.
The programme itself
The programme itself is a one-year interdisciplinary master’s in China Studies, taught entirely in English, with around 120 students a year and international students making up roughly three-quarters of each cohort. The fellowship named on the page covers tuition, accommodation, a monthly stipend, one round-trip flight and field study costs, though the stipend amount itself is still never given a figure. If you’re comparing English-taught master’s programmes in China specifically, Schwarzman Scholars at Tsinghua University is the closest comparable programme, run on a different structure and funding model.