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China Scholarships Index

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JW201 form: what it is and when a Chinese Government Scholarship holder receives it

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

The JW201 is a form that is asked for three times: when you apply for your student visa, when you register at your host university, and when you apply for a residence permit after entering China. The Chinese Scholarship Council guidebook that covers the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship says the host universities send it to candidates together with the Admission Letter.

This page quotes four official documents, one passage at a time: the Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship, the Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship page, the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom's visa page, and the Administrative Measures for the Enrolment and Education of International Students by Schools (Ministry of Education Order No. 42). They do not use identical wording, so each statement below names the document it comes from. Where a document says nothing about something, this page says that instead of filling the gap.

The two names used for it

The documents call it two different things.

Official document Name used
Guidebook to the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship Confirmation Form for Study in China (JW201)
Chinese Trade Unions Silk Road Scholarship Visa Application for Study in China (JW201); written once, in its residence permit passage, as Visa Application Form for Study in China (JW201)
Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United Kingdom, visa page "Visa Application for Study in China" (Form JW201 or Form JW202)

This page repeats whatever name the relevant document uses.

Who sends it, and when

The ACYLS guidebook is the one that describes the handover. In its Scholarship Confirmation section it states that winners will receive final results from CSC through email before 31 July of that intake, and that candidates will receive the admission documents — the Admission Letter and the Confirmation Form for Study in China (JW201) — from the host universities. The same page prints no application deadline date.

The Silk Road scholarship page names the JW201 among the documents needed for the visa, registration and the residence permit, and does not say who issues it; it says only that admission documents are mailed to candidates. The embassy page lists it as a document you submit, and also does not say who issues it.

The three moments you are asked for it

Before travel: the student visa

The ACYLS guidebook says winners should apply for an "X1" visa at the Chinese embassy and consulate-general. Applicants who will study in China for less than six months, six months included, can apply for an "X2" visa. Named among the documents required for the visa application are a valid ordinary passport, photocopies of the Admission Letter and the JW201, and the original document of the Foreigner Physical Examination Form. The guidebook adds that students who come to China with other types of passports or visas, or without the requested documents, will not be able to register with the universities or apply for the residence permit in China, and that the visa application cost is at the student's own expense.

The Silk Road scholarship page describes the step differently in one respect: applicants present the original documents and photocopies of the Admission Letter, the Visa Application for Study in China (JW201), the Foreigner Physical Examination Form and a valid ordinary passport. On the visa type it gives the same split written the other way round: those studying more than six months must apply for an X1 visa, and those studying less than six months, six months included, can apply for an X2 visa. It also warns that students arriving with other passports or visas, or without the original documents, will not be able to register or apply for the residence permit, and that visa application cost is at the student's own expense.

The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom lists three documents for the X1 visa:

  1. The Admission Letter issued by a college, university or other educational institution in China.
  2. The original or photocopy of "Visa Application for Study in China" (Form JW201 or Form JW202).
  3. The original or photocopy of the "Confirmation Form for Elementary Stages Students Study in China" issued by Chinese relevant authorities, for the Elementary Stage.

For the X2 visa that page lists the original or photocopy of the Admission Notice issued by such an institution. That list is published for applicants in the United Kingdom; this page cannot speak for other embassies.

The embassy page places Form JW201 and Form JW202 together as alternatives and does not explain the difference between them. Neither the ACYLS guidebook nor the Silk Road page mentions JW202 at all, and the embassy page attaches no description to it, so this page leaves JW202 unexplained.

Ministry of Education Order No. 42 sets out the legal frame for this step. Article 35 states that a foreigner applying to study at the schools referred to in Article 2 of the Measures shall, before entering China and according to the length of study, apply to the Chinese embassy or consulate-general in the country of nationality or residence for an X1 or X2 visa, submitting the proof filed with the education department concerned and the Admission Letter issued by the school, together with other related materials. Article 35 attaches no name to that proof.

Arrival: registration with the host university

The ACYLS guidebook requires registration with the host university before the deadline specified in the Admission Letter, with the Admission Letter, the JW201 and the Foreigner Physical Examination Form. The Silk Road scholarship page requires registration before the same kind of deadline with the original Admission Letter, the JW201 and the Foreigner Physical Examination Form.

On late arrival the two guidebooks are worded alike: anyone unable to register on time must obtain permission from the host institution directly, and anyone who fails to register without the institution's prior consent is treated as having voluntarily given up the scholarship, which is then automatically terminated.

After arrival: the residence permit

The two guidebooks state that scholarship students must apply for a residence permit at the local police authority before the deadline regulated by the visa-issuing authority, bringing their passport, Admission Letter, JW201, verified health report, and a photograph that meets the image requirements of the authority.

The verified health report comes from the health verification step described in the same sections: students who will stay in China for more than six months submit their passport, Admission Letter, Foreigner Physical Examination Form and Blood Test Report to the local health quarantine office to have their physical examination report verified.

The Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom states that holders of an X1 visa shall, within 30 days from the date of entry, apply to the exit/entry administration of the public security bureau for the place of residence for a foreigner's residence permit. Article 36 of Order No. 42 states that international students whose study visa notes that residence documents must be obtained after entry shall, within thirty days of the date of entry, apply to the exit/entry administration of the public security organ for a study-category foreigner residence permit. The wording differs on who it applies to: the embassy page ties it to the X1 visa, the Measures tie it to what the visa itself says. Article 36 is published in Chinese; the English rendering here is this site's translation, not an official one.

Questions people ask

Who sends me the JW201 form?

The ACYLS guidebook says host universities send the admission documents — the Admission Letter and the JW201 — after winners receive their final results from CSC by email before 31 July. The Silk Road scholarship page does not say who issues the JW201 (it says only that admission documents are mailed to candidates), and the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom's visa page does not say either.

Is the JW201 the same as Form JW202?

The embassy's visa page lists "Form JW201 or Form JW202" as alternatives for the X1 visa and does not explain what distinguishes them. Neither the ACYLS guidebook nor the Silk Road page mentions JW202, and the embassy page gives no description of it, so this page cannot say what it is.

What happens if I arrive without the JW201?

The ACYLS guidebook states that students who come to China without the requested documents will not be able to register with the universities, nor apply for the residence permit in China. The Silk Road scholarship page uses narrower wording, referring to students arriving without the original documents. Neither the ACYLS guidebook nor the Silk Road page describes what happens at the border.

Do I pay for anything at these three steps?

The two guidebooks each state that the visa application cost is at the student's own expense. Neither the ACYLS guidebook, the Silk Road page, the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom's visa page nor Order No. 42 sets out a fee charged for the JW201 form itself; the embassy page refers readers to its latest notice on visa fees for the visa charge.

Sources

Checked 10 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary published by the China Scholarships Index, not by the China Scholarship Council, the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom or the Ministry of Education, and where anything here differs from an official notice, that notice applies.

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