CSC agency number and Program Category: what 'Type A' means and the numbers official notices publish
Sources checked · Unofficial summary
You get both fields from the scholarship you are applying to, not from the form. The official notice for your programme either prints the Agency Number itself, or the authority that receives your application tells it to candidates who qualify. On the CGSIS form (the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System, studyinchina.csc.edu.cn) you choose Type A as the Program Category and enter the Agency Number given for your programme; the two are directly matched, and if either one is wrong the processing authority will not receive your application.
Four China Scholarship Council notices published on Campus China state a number. Each number belongs to one programme only:
| Programme | Program Category | Agency Number | Stated in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Youth of Excellence Scheme of China | Type A | 1563 | Youth of Excellence Scheme of China Program Chinese Government Scholarship |
| Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship (CTUSRS) | Type A | 00009 | Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship |
| ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship | Type A | 0025 | Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship |
| MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program | Type A | 00010 | MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide) |
How the two fields work together
The ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship guidebook and the MOFCOM enrollment guide use the same wording: Program Category and Agency Number are directly matched and both are mandatory for the online application. "Scholarship receiving authorities (or application processing authorities) will inform the program category and agency number to candidates who are qualified for applying." After you enter the number, the matched agency name appears on the page automatically. The two guides add a note: "Application with incorrect Agency Number will not be processed," and they repeat that processing authorities will not receive an application where the program category or agency number is not correct.
The Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship notice says the same thing in its own words: the two fields "are necessary for application through CGSIS," and once they are entered correctly, the name of the authority is displayed automatically. It warns that if you do not fill them in correctly you "will not be able to continue your online application or your application will not be accepted."
That automatic name display is the only check the texts describe. If the agency name that appears on screen is not the one handling your programme, the number you typed is not the right one for you.
Where each programme's number comes from
The four notices do not all handle this the same way, so it matters which one you are reading.
Youth of Excellence Scheme of China. The notice publishes the number directly: choose "Type A" for Scholarship Type, "The agency code is 1563, and applicants need to find 'Youth of Excellence Scheme of China'." The same notice says the China Scholarship Council accepts individual applications directly and reviews the submitted materials before arranging expert review. It also requires applicants to have received a pre-admission letter from one of the subprogrammes at least by the time they apply. The deadline it gives is 23:59 on 31 March 2026 (GMT+8) — that is the date of the 2026 intake cycle as stated on the page, and the notice for a following intake had not appeared there when it was checked.
Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship. The notice gives the number in Step 3 of its application procedures: choose "Type A" and "type in '00009' as the 'Agency Number' for the CTUSRS program". It also fixes several other fields for this programme — Apply As "General Scholar", Preferred Teaching Language "Chinese", Discipline "Literature", Major "Chinese Language", Preferences of Institute I "Beijing Language and Culture University" (with "None" for the second and third preferences). The page states no academic year and no deadline date.
ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship. Step 3 says choose Program Category "Type A"; Step 4 says "Your Agency Number is: 0025." The guidebook's focal point list is headed "As of 2026", but the page gives no application deadline date.
MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program. Step 3 and Step 4 say Type A and "Your Agency Number is: 00010", both marked "Only for applicants of MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program". The enrollment guide gives no academic year and no deadline; it tells applicants to consult the application receiving authority for the deadline of each year.
Do not carry a number across programmes
00009 is stated for the CTUSRS programme, 0025 for the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship, 00010 for MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program applicants only, and 1563 for the Youth of Excellence Scheme of China. None of the notices presents any of these as a general CSC number. Using one programme's number on another programme's application puts a mismatched pair into a system the notices describe as matched, which is exactly the case the notices say will not be received or processed.
If your programme is one of the Chinese Government Scholarship categories covered elsewhere on this site — the bilateral, university, Great Wall, EU, AUN, PIF, WMO or student-exchange programmes — none of the four notices above publishes a number for it. Follow the number your own receiving authority gives you.
What these notices do not say
They do not define Type B or Type C. Each of the four tells applicants to choose Type A and stops there; what Type B or Type C covers, or who should choose them, is not stated in any of the four texts. This page cannot fill that in from another programme's rules.
The notices also do not publish a list of all Agency Numbers. The four above are the ones these four documents state, and the absence of a number in a notice does not mean none exists — the ASEAN and MOFCOM guides both say the receiving or processing authority informs qualified candidates.
Two further points come from the same instructions and are worth following: use Firefox or Internet Explorer 11.0, because menu selection functions may not work in other browsers (close "compatibility view mode" if you use Internet Explorer), and fill in all application information in Chinese or English. The ASEAN and MOFCOM guides also state that the China Scholarship Council never entrusts any individual or intermediary agent to process Chinese Government Scholarship applications, and that applicants should submit through official dispatching authorities. For the general steps around the form itself, see How to apply and the Chinese Government Scholarship overview.
Questions people ask
Who tells me my Program Category and Agency Number?
The ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship guidebook and the MOFCOM enrollment guide both say that scholarship receiving authorities, or application processing authorities, inform the program category and agency number to candidates who are qualified for applying. If your programme's notice prints a number, use that one; if it does not, the authority handling your application is the one to ask.
What happens if I enter the wrong Agency Number?
The ASEAN and MOFCOM guides state that an application with an incorrect Agency Number will not be processed, and that processing authorities will not receive your online application if the program category or agency number is not correct. The Silk Road notice says you will not be able to continue the online application, or it will not be accepted.
Is 00009 the same as 00009 in every CGSIS form?
It is the Agency Number the Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship notice gives for the CTUSRS programme. The MOFCOM enrollment guide gives 00010 and marks it as being for MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program applicants only; the same logic applies to each of the other two. The numbers are published per programme.
Do any of these notices explain Type B or Type C?
No. All four instruct applicants to choose Type A, and none of the four defines Type B or Type C, or says which applicants should choose them.
Can I check the number before I submit?
Yes, in the way the notices describe: after the Agency Number is entered, the matched agency name is displayed automatically on the page. If the name shown is not the authority handling your programme, the number is wrong for your application.
Sources
- Youth of Excellence Scheme of China Program Chinese Government Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
- Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
- Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
- MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide) — China Scholarship Council (Campus China, campuschina.org)
Checked 10 October 2026.
This page is an unofficial summary written for applicants; it is not published by the China Scholarship Council, Campus China or any university, and where it differs from the official notice, the official notice prevails.