English

Most students thinking about studying in China start with the Chinese Government Scholarship. But what actually determines whether you can go this year is seeing all the routes clearly and getting the timing right.

1. Chinese Government Scholarship (CGS): the heaviest, with two doors

Established by the Ministry of Education and administered by the China Scholarship Council (CSC), this is the most substantial full scholarship available. Funding typically covers tuition, on-campus accommodation and comprehensive medical insurance, plus a monthly living allowance.

There are two application channels, and they are not interchangeable:

Basic eligibility: non-Chinese national in good health; under 25 for undergraduate, under 35 for master’s, under 40 for doctoral study. Chinese-taught programmes generally require HSK Level 4 (some universities set the bar higher); English-taught programmes accept IELTS or TOEFL scores.

2. International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship (ICLTS)

Funded by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation under the Ministry of Education, this route is for applicants who want to study Chinese, pursue a degree in teaching Chinese to speakers of other languages, or complete a one-semester or one-year Chinese programme. Applications go through chinese.cn.

Language thresholds (general catalogue; individual universities may require more):

• Doctoral: HSK Level 6 with 200
• Master’s: HSK Level 5 with 210
• Bachelor’s: HSK Level 4 with 210
• One-year programme: HSK Level 4 with 180
• All of the above require the matching HSKK speaking score

Funding likewise covers tuition, accommodation, living allowance and comprehensive medical insurance.

3. Local government scholarships: consistently undervalued

Provinces and municipalities run their own schemes to attract international talent. Their defining features are friendlier thresholds and the fact that applications often go in alongside your university application.

Being based in Jiangsu, the one we know best is the Jiangsu Government Scholarship ("Jasmine"), applied for through studyinjiangsu.org. The new-student window usually runs from 1 April to 30 June each year, and funding includes tuition waiver, accommodation (or a subsidy), a living allowance and insurance. Exact terms follow that year’s announcement.

4. University awards: remember to ask

Presidential awards, entrance scholarships and outstanding-freshman awards set by individual universities rarely appear in general guides. Ask the international students office of your target university directly during the application process.

5. Language is the common denominator

Compare all four routes and one thing stands out: HSK is unavoidable in every one of them. What differs is the requirement — Level 4 for some, Level 5 with 210 for others, sometimes with an HSKK speaking score attached.

Which means language preparation has to come before the application, not after an offer arrives. Among the applicants we have worked with who succeeded, almost all began studying Chinese 12 to 18 months before the application season opened.

If you are planning for 2027 entry, autumn 2026 is the right moment to start. Mandarin Edu’s HSK courses follow the official level standards and can be layered to meet the different requirements of several target universities at once.