Two scholarship systems, and why mixing them up costs a year
China does not run one central scholarship that everyone applies to. It runs a government scholarship with several sub-programmes, and a separate language-focused scholarship, and both sit on top of university and provincial schemes that you apply for through the university itself.
The Chinese Government Scholarship is administered through the China Scholarship Council. The Beijing municipal government’s English guide for international students lists seven sub-programmes under it, including the Bilateral Program, the Chinese University Program, the Great Wall Program run through national UNESCO commissions, and regional programmes for the EU, the ASEAN University Network, the Pacific Islands Forum and the World Meteorological Organization.
Each of those routes has a different gatekeeper. The Bilateral Program goes through the dispatching authority in your own country, usually your education ministry or a Chinese embassy. The Chinese University Program goes directly to the university. Applying to the wrong body is not a fixable error, it is a missed cycle.
What the government scholarship actually covers
The Beijing guide sets out the coverage in concrete terms. There is a tuition waiver, free university dormitory accommodation or an accommodation subsidy, a monthly living allowance, and comprehensive medical insurance.
The listed allowances are CNY 2,500 per month for undergraduates, CNY 3,000 for master’s students and general scholars, and CNY 3,500 for doctoral students and senior scholars. The accommodation subsidy, for students living off campus, is listed as CNY 700 per month for undergraduate and master’s students and CNY 1,000 per month for doctoral students.
International travel does not appear anywhere in that coverage list. Neither does a guarantee that tuition is waived in full. Peking University states plainly that the Chinese Government Scholarship does not fully cover tuition for its English-taught programmes and that recipients pay the difference. That is the sort of clause that turns a scholarship you thought was complete into one you have to top up, so read the award terms before you accept.
Treat the government scholarship as strong but partial until your specific offer letter says otherwise. Budget for your flights, your visa fee, and any tuition gap on your programme.
Type A and Type B in practice
Applicants and universities usually call the Bilateral Program “Type A” and the Chinese University Program “Type B”, and the mechanics differ.
For Type A at Peking University, you first apply for admission through the university’s own system, pass an eligibility review, download a certificate, then submit that certificate with your scholarship application to the processing authority in your home country. The university lists certificate windows for 2026 entry running from 1 November 2025 to 23 February 2026 for postgraduates and from 1 December 2025 to 31 March 2026 for undergraduates, while stressing that the binding deadline is the one your home-country authority sets.
For Type B, you apply in the CSC online system using the university’s agency number, then complete the university’s own application. Zhejiang University publishes agency number 10335, a 31 December 2025 close for its cycle, and a selection process that includes video interviews.
Two details catch people out. Zhejiang University still charges its non-refundable application fee of CNY 800 to scholarship applicants, and it requires a foreigner physical examination form and a non-criminal record certificate, each issued within the previous six months. Both documents usually need certified translation, so factor in the translation and notarisation time and cost.
What you pay without a scholarship
Chinese tuition is published per year and varies by subject band rather than by nationality, which makes it easier to plan against than fee systems that quote a range.
Zhejiang University’s official fee table gives a useful sense of scale. Undergraduate tuition runs from CNY 19,800 a year for philosophy, literature and history, to CNY 24,800 for economics, law, science, engineering and agriculture, CNY 29,800 for medical science and art, and CNY 42,800 for clinical medicine. Master’s programmes run from CNY 22,800 to CNY 32,800, and doctoral programmes from CNY 29,800 to CNY 39,800. Long-term Chinese language study is listed at CNY 18,000 a year.
Those are one university’s figures, not a national rate. Check the fee page of every institution you apply to, because subject banding differs and the top-ranked universities are not always the most expensive.
Application fees are real money too. Peking University charges CNY 800 per programme for international master’s and doctoral applications and allows you to apply to two. If you are applying to six universities, that is a line in your application budget before you have bought a plane ticket.
The language question decides your options
Beijing’s regulations on international students state that the language commonly used in China is the primary teaching language at universities. English-taught programmes exist and are growing, but they are the exception being carved out of a Chinese-language default, not the norm.
The thresholds are specific. For 2026 entry, Peking University asks Chinese-taught applicants for HSK level 6 with a total of 200 for sciences or 210 for humanities and a writing section of at least 65. English-taught applicants are asked for TOEFL iBT 100 or above, GRE 315 or above, or equivalent evidence.
If your Chinese is already strong, the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship is a separate route worth knowing. Its 2024 application guidelines cover tuition, accommodation, a living allowance and comprehensive medical insurance, with allowances of CNY 2,500, CNY 3,000 and CNY 3,500 a month for bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral students. Doctoral applicants needed HSK level 6 with at least 200 plus HSKK advanced, master’s applicants HSK level 5 with at least 210 plus HSKK intermediate. Applicants were aged 16 to 35 on 1 September, extended to 45 for in-service teachers, and applied through a designated recommending institution rather than direct. Check the current year’s guidelines, since the thresholds and dates are reissued annually.
The visa, and your first month
China issues two study visas. The X1 is for study of more than 180 days, the X2 for study of no more than 180 days.
For an X1 you need your admission notice and the original plus a photocopy of the Visa Application for Study in China, which is either a JW201 or a JW202 form issued by your university. An X2 needs the admission notice alone.
The X1 is an entry visa, not your permission to stay. After you arrive you must obtain a residence permit from the local exit and entry administration within 30 days. Miss that window and you are out of status, which is far harder to fix than to avoid.
Separately, you must register your accommodation with the police within 24 hours of arrival, under Article 39 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law. A hotel does this for you at check-in. A dormitory, a rented flat, or a friend’s spare room does not always, so confirm rather than assume, and repeat the registration every time you move or re-enter the country.
Insurance is not optional either. Beijing’s regulations require universities to ensure all international students are insured, and a student who does not hold the required cover can be refused registration.
Work rights are narrow by design
Beijing’s regulations allow a student in higher education to take part in a work-study programme or an off-campus internship, with university approval and registration of the work location with the police. Full-time employment and running a business are prohibited.
The practical limits are set locally and by each university. Peking University permits work-to-support-study only after a student has completed the first year, requires an employment agreement and a separate residence permit annotation obtained from the Beijing exit and entry office, and caps hours at 8 per week and 40 per month during term, rising to 16 per week and 80 per month during winter and summer vacations.
Plan your budget as though you will earn nothing. At those caps, part-time work in China covers incidentals, not tuition.