Skip to content
China Scholarships Index

Unofficial index. Applications are made only through the official channels linked on each page.

What 'designated universities' means in Chinese Government Scholarship notices

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

Not to any university of your choosing. The Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship uses one term throughout — "designated Chinese universities" — and says those universities offer scholarship recipients their academic programmes; for the universities themselves and the majors they offer, it sends the reader to the Campus China website. Two programme notices put a number on that set: the Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship names 33 designated universities, and the MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide) names 26.

What the regulation says behind the word

The arrangement has a basis in regulation. 《学校招收和培养国际学生管理办法》(Administrative Measures for the Enrolment and Education of International Students by Schools), Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, has been in force since 1 July 2017. Its Article 32 provides that the Chinese Government establishes the Chinese Government Scholarship for international students receiving higher education, and encourages local people's governments to establish international student scholarships; it leaves the management measures for the Chinese Government Scholarship to the relevant administrative department of the State Council.

Article 33 is the provision that produces the word "designated". The regulation is published in Chinese, so the English below is a reader's translation and not an official one: "The administrative department of education under the State Council shall, on a selective basis, entrust institutions of higher learning with the education of Chinese Government Scholarship students. Institutions of higher learning that undertake the task of educating Chinese Government Scholarship students shall give priority to enrolling them."

Read that way, a university does not become a scholarship destination on its own: it is entrusted with the task, and once entrusted it is expected to give scholarship students priority in enrolment. Article 33 does not name any university, does not state a number, and does not say where or how often the list of entrusted institutions is published. Article 34 adds a separate point — institutions of higher learning may establish their own scholarships for international students, and enterprises, public institutions, social organisations, other social organisations and individuals are encouraged to establish them too, provided no unreasonable conditions are attached.

How many designated universities each notice names

The application guide states no number. It uses the term and points elsewhere. The two programme notices that do give a figure give different ones, and each figure belongs only to the notice it appears in:

Notice What it says about the set of universities
Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship Refers to "designated Chinese universities" and directs applicants to the Campus China website for those universities and the majors they offer; gives no number and no list
Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship 33 designated Chinese universities, with the list attached to the guidebook
MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide) 26 designated universities

Neither 33 nor 26 is a count for the Chinese Government Scholarship as a whole; each is the count stated in one programme notice. The application guide does not say how many universities are designated across all programmes, and this page does not list or rank any of them.

How you choose, and how the placement is made

Both programme notices describe the same shape of choice. Under the ACYLS guidebook, each applicant can choose one major and three preferred universities out of the 33. Under the MOFCOM enrollment guide, each applicant can choose one major and three preferred universities out of the 26.

The decision is not the applicant's to finish. The ACYLS guidebook says CSC will place each applicant in one university based on their choices and the universities' requirements, that qualified applications are sent to the candidates' preferred universities for placement by CSC, and that the placement results will be confirmed by the universities. It also states that CSC reserves the right to make necessary adjustments or changes to the candidate's preferred university and field of study, on the basis of factors that include the scholarship funding requirements, the host university's teaching capacity, the study length and the applicants' criteria. The MOFCOM enrollment guide covers placement in a single sentence — CSC will place each applicant in one university only on the basis of their choice and the universities' requirements — and says nothing further about how that decision is reached or whether it can be adjusted.

So the pattern in both notices is the same: three preferences drawn from a fixed set, and one placement decided by CSC.

After the placement

The ACYLS guidebook states that winners of the scholarship will receive the final results from CSC by email before 31 July, and will receive the admission documents — the Admission Letter and the Confirmation Form for Study in China (JW201) — from the host universities. The MOFCOM enrollment guide states that winners will receive the admission package from ECCO of the Chinese Embassy by the end of August, and must register at the host university before the deadline, which is usually September. Neither page ties those dates to a stated academic year: the ACYLS page gives no application deadline date at all, and the MOFCOM page gives no academic year and no deadline date, telling applicants instead to consult the application receiving authority for the deadline of each year.

Once placed, the ACYLS guidebook allows very little movement. It states that scholarship recipients shall not change their host university, field of study, or the duration of study stipulated on the Admission Letter after coming to China. It repeats the point for the study period itself: scholarship students are not allowed, in principle, to change their academic programmes, host universities or the length of schooling while studying in China. Anyone who needs to change for special reasons must apply to CSC through their host university, and the change can happen only after approval from both CSC and the ACYLS Joint Committee based in Jakarta. The guidebook also states that the scholarship will not be reserved if a recipient cannot register before the registration deadline. The application guide for the scholarship, in the parts that cover categories, duration, institutions and the application process, sets out no rule on changing university.

Where the guide tells you to look

The Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship puts the lookup at the front of its own process. Under "Institutions and Majors" it says designated Chinese universities offer scholarship recipients academic programmes in science, engineering, agriculture, medicine, economics, law, management, education, history, literature, philosophy and fine arts, among others, and asks the reader to visit the website for further information about the designated universities and the majors they offer. The address the guide gives is http://www.campuschina.org.

The guide's application process then runs in seven steps: learn about the designated universities and the majors they offer by visiting the website or by other means, and identify the preferred scholarship programme, designated university and major; reach the designated university for admission documents; reach an application receiving agency for a recommendation; fill in and submit the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online through the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System; the application receiving agency submits the recommended candidates list and the applicants' documents; CSC organises designated universities and the experts concerned to examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance before finalising the short-list; CSC notifies the admission results to the application receiving agency, which then informs the applicant.

Step two's "admission documents" carry a condition in at least one notice. The notice for the Youth of Excellence Scheme of China states that the pre-admission letter given by the university must contain all the necessary registration information — personal information, the admission date and the major's information — and that it cannot contain any information about having received, or having been promised, a Chinese Government Scholarship. That notice covers the 2026 intake, whose online application deadline was 23:59 on 31 March 2026 (GMT+8); no notice for a following intake had appeared on the page when it was checked.

Questions people ask

Can I take a Chinese Government Scholarship to any university in China?

The Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship does not say that. It says designated Chinese universities offer scholarship recipients their academic programmes, and it directs applicants to the Campus China website for the universities and the majors they offer. Order No. 42, Article 33 describes the education administrative department of the State Council entrusting institutions of higher learning with the education of scholarship students on a selective basis, which is the arrangement the word "designated" reflects.

How many universities are designated?

The application guide gives no number. Two programme notices do: the Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship names 33 designated universities, with the list attached to that guidebook, and the MOFCOM Scholarship-CSC Program (Enrollment Guide) names 26. Each number belongs to the notice that states it; neither is a total for the scholarship as a whole.

Do I apply to the university or to an agency?

Both, in the order the application guide sets out. Step two is to reach the designated university for admission documents; step three is to reach an application receiving agency for a recommendation; step four is to fill in and submit the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online. The application receiving agency then submits the recommended candidates list and the application documents.

Can I change university after I arrive in China?

The ACYLS guidebook says no, not the host university, the field of study or the duration of study stipulated on the Admission Letter once the recipient has come to China. During study in China, changes to academic programme, host university or length of schooling are not allowed in principle; a change for special reasons has to be applied for through the host university to CSC, and can happen only after approval from both CSC and the ACYLS Joint Committee based in Jakarta. The application guide for the scholarship does not set out a rule on changing university.

Where do I find the list of designated universities and majors?

The application guide names http://www.campuschina.org as the place to look for the designated universities and the majors they offer. The ACYLS guidebook says the list of its 33 universities is attached to the guidebook itself.

Sources

Checked 10 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary, is not published by the China Scholarship Council, Campus China, the Ministry of Education or any university, and where it differs from an official notice the official notice prevails.

Scholarship Desk