UNESCO/China Great Wall Fellowships: who can apply and what the 2026-2027 programme offers
Sources checked · Unofficial summary
The Great Wall Fellowship is a co-sponsored programme between UNESCO and the Government of the People's Republic of China that pays for advanced study at a selected number of Chinese universities. For the edition described on the UNESCO page, only nationals of the 135 invited Member States listed there can be considered, and the study options are a one-year visiting scholar programme or a Master's or Doctoral degree. Applications are received by the National Commission for UNESCO in your home country, not by this site and not by a university.
What the programme is
UNESCO's page for the 2026-2027 edition states that UNESCO and the Government of the People's Republic of China will co-sponsor seventy-five (75) fellowships for advanced studies in various fields, and that twenty-seven (27) vacancies are open for new recruitment to candidates from 135 developing Member States in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe and the Arab region.
The fellowships are intended for students and researchers who plan to pursue degree study at postgraduate level, or to undertake individual research with periodic guidance from an assigned supervisor in China. Degree study runs from 2 to 5 years; the visiting scholar option runs for one year. Programmes are taught in English or Chinese, subject to what the selected universities offer. Candidates for Chinese-taught programmes should have acquired a certain level of Chinese proficiency before starting.
One caution about the arithmetic on the UNESCO page: the section text says the fellowships are for the academic year 2025-2026, while the page header and the notices on it refer to the 2026-2027 edition. The page does not reconcile the two. Treat the numbers as those stated for the edition described on that page.
UNESCO also states that it places high priority on gender equality, Africa and Small Island Developing States, and that women candidates and candidates from Africa and SIDS are strongly encouraged to apply.
The Chinese Government Scholarship application guide describes the Great Wall Program in one table row: target group students and scholars from developing countries; supporting categories postgraduates, general scholars and senior scholars; application receiving agency the National Commission for UNESCO in the home country.
Invited Member States
You must be a national of one of the Member States on the UNESCO page's list. The page groups them by region with the following counts: Africa 46, Asia and the Pacific 38, Arab States 13, Latin America and the Caribbean 26, Europe 12.
Africa (46): Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Asia and the Pacific (38): Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, Niue, Palau, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam.
Arab States (13): Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, State of Palestine, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Yemen.
Latin America and the Caribbean (26): Argentina, Belize, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of).
Europe (12): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Ukraine.
What you can study
UNESCO does not publish the list of fields here. Its "Available Study Programmes" section says to visit the official China Scholarship Council website for the fields of proposed studies at the selected Chinese universities. What the UNESCO page does fix is the shape of the study:
- One-year Visiting Scholar programme, as a General Scholar or a Senior Scholar.
- Master's or Doctoral degree programme, with a duration of 2 to 5 years.
- Teaching in English or in Chinese, depending on what the selected universities offer.
- Individual research with periodic guidance from an assigned supervisor, for the visiting scholar route.
Eligibility: age, degree and language
Beyond being a national of an invited Member State, UNESCO lists three conditions: meeting the age, language and academic requirements of the chosen programme; meeting the admission requirements of the university applied to in terms of academic ability, language proficiency and other criteria; and being in good health, both mentally and physically.
The age rules are measured at the time of enrollment, which the page gives as September 2026.
| Category | Degree or position required | Maximum age at enrollment (September 2026) | Language |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Scholar (one-year visiting) | High school diploma | 45 | English required; HSK Level 3 for a Chinese-taught programme |
| Senior Scholar (one-year visiting) | Master's degree, or associate professor position or above | 50 | English required; HSK Level 3 for a Chinese-taught programme |
| Master's degree | Bachelor's degree | 35 | English required; HSK Level 4 for a Chinese-taught programme |
| Doctoral degree | Master's degree | 40 | English required; HSK Level 4 for a Chinese-taught programme |
How applications are routed
Both documents point to the same channel. The CSC guide names the National Commission for UNESCO in the home country as the application receiving agency for the Great Wall Program; UNESCO's page tells candidates to contact that Commission for the procedures that apply in their country. Neither UNESCO nor this site accepts applications. The application steps themselves, and the deadlines attached to them, are covered on the how to apply page; contact details for the National Commissions are published by UNESCO.
Questions people ask
Am I eligible if I only finished high school?
Yes, for one route only. The General Scholar Programme, the one-year visiting option, requires a high school diploma and an age of no more than 45 at enrollment. No degree programme in this fellowship is open at that level.
Can I do a bachelor's degree on this fellowship?
No category for one appears in the eligibility section. The options listed are the one-year visiting scholar programme and Master's or Doctoral degrees, and the CSC guide's row lists the supporting categories as postgraduates, general scholars and senior scholars.
Do I have to speak Chinese?
English proficiency is required for every category. Chinese is required only if you choose a Chinese-taught programme: HSK Level 3 for visiting scholars, HSK Level 4 for degree students.
My university has not issued my diploma yet. Can I still apply?
The eligibility section does not address this. It requires candidates to hold the relevant degree, and to meet the admission requirements of the university they apply to.
Which countries count as "developing Member States" here?
The 135 listed above. The CSC guide describes the target group more loosely as students and scholars from developing countries; the UNESCO page is the document that names them.
Sources
- UNESCO/The People's Republic of China - The Great Wall Co-Sponsored Fellowships Programme 2026-2027, UNESCO
- Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, China Scholarship Council (Campus China)
- National Commissions for UNESCO, UNESCO
Checked 10 October 2026.
This page is an unofficial summary; it is not published by UNESCO, the China Scholarship Council or any university, and where it differs from the official notice, the official notice prevails.