What scholarships does China provide?

Before choosing the kind of grant to study in China or university you should carefully read this page. On the Internet, you can get a lot of information about rewards for studying in China and companies providing aids. And most of them aren’t true. After viewing the article, studying in China with the quota will become even closer.

Scholarships to study in China
Especially for you, we have created an article based on the approved sources of the website of the Ministry of Education of China. This article includes all the important news about grants and stipends to study in China. And it will be useful for our foreign students.



Since there are about a dozen types of grants, we have divided this article into several parts.
And we advise that you read them in order so as not to lose the chain of information.

And so, in these articles, we will answer the questions that you most likely asked on the Internet:

  • How to get a scholarship to study in China?
  • How many types of scholarships are there?
  • What are the requirements?
  • How to get a quota by yourself?
Scholarships to study in China
If you have questions on topics that are not defined in the articles, please contact our consultants or write in the comments.



Full or partial scholarships

Before reviewing each type of quota, it must be said that the scholarship for studying in China can be divided into 2 types:

  • Full scholarship
  • Partial scholarship

For instance, the full scholarship is the scholarship of the Chinese government. Covers tuition fees, foreign student health insurance, necessary study materials, accommodation, living quota, once paid settlement allowance, and one city travel allowance.

  • You are exempt from registration expenses, tuition charges, laboratory experiment charges, internship expenses, and pays for basic teaching materials;
  • free campus service;
  • monthly stipend;
  • once paid settlement subsidy;
  • payment for comprehensive health support;
  • once paid subsidy for long-distance travel (both entering and leaving China).

An incomplete scholarship includes one or more full scholarship points.



8 most popular types of scholarships to study in China

In this section, we have prepared the significant programs. If you have any questions, write them in the comments.

There are about 20 types of awards for studying in China. But among all types, the following are considered the most common and popular:

Type of ScholarshipBudget per one studentApplication deadline
China government Scholarships66000 RMB/year
1st April
Provincial Scholarships30000-40000 RMB/yearJune
Shanghai Government Scholarship60000 RMB/year20th April
Beijing Government Scholarship30000 RMB/year20th April
One Belt One Road20000 RMB/year, without stipend31st March
Jasmine Jiangsu Government Scholarship40000 RMB/year15th April
Siemens Scholarship160000 RMB/year1st March
Scholarships provided by Chinese universities10000-40000 RMB/yearJuly

Please note that deadlines for submission of documents may vary every year. Check with our consultants.

Now let’s analyze each type of scholarship in more detail:



China government Scholarships

China’s government Scholarship is a full scholarship available to all foreign students entering China. Not all universities have this type of quota. For example, universities in the top 80 rankings of universities in China have this opportunity. If you would like to compete for the China Government Grant or to learn more, please follow this link.

In this graph you can see in which parts of China international students study:



Provincial Scholarships

China has a huge territory and consists of 34 provinces and 4 municipalities (Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Beijing). Each of them has a development strategy. Chinese Local Government Scholarships are financed by Chinese schools in collaboration with the provincial government of China, and in some cases, the China Scholarship Council. You can find more information on China’s provincial grants here.

Province / CityNumber of students
Beijing80,786
Shanghai61,49
Jiangsu45,77
Zhejiang38,19
Liaoning27,87
Tianjin23,69
Guangdong22,03
Hubei21,37
Yunnan19,31
Shandong19,07
Guanxi15,21
Sichuan13,99
Heilongjiang13,42
Shaanxi12,91
Fujian10,34



Shanghai Government Scholarship

Shanghai is the most international city in China. It has the largest number of foreign institutions and enterprises. You can read more about studying in Shanghai here. The Shanghai Provincial Government is offering Shanghai Government Scholarship (SGS) to international students. The privileges of this SGS scholarship are very similar to the CSC (China Scholarship Council). Foreign students are offered three types of Shanghai Scholarships to complete their Master’s or Ph.D. degrees:
Scholarships to study in China

  • A: complete quota, master’s degree – stipend of 3000 yuan, Ph.D. – stipend of 3500 yuan
  • B: incomplete quota, no stipend paid
  • C: covers up to RMB 8000 per year per foreign student

You can find details of the Shanghai Government Scholarship right here.



Beijing Government Scholarship

The Beijing Government Scholarship is another opportunity for international students to study in China for free. The application procedure for the scholarship is the same as in the case of the China Scholarship Council (CSC). The deadline for submission of applications depends on the university, but usually, it is necessary to have time to apply for the Beijing government scholarship before April 20th.

If you would like to know more information about the Beijing government scholarship, please follow this link.

Scholarships to study in China



One Belt One Road

Within the framework of the One Road – One Belt initiative, the renewal of the Silk Road from 2014 universities in China. Together with educational agencies is recruiting students for grants. This project is aimed at developing economic relations with the CIS countries, South Asia, Europe and African regions. Foreign students applying to undergraduate, graduate, or Ph.D. programs are available to apply for the Belt and Road Initiative Scholarship Scheme.

Scholarships to study in China
This type of scholarship is also not available to all universities in China. Check with our consultants for more details.



Jasmine Jiangsu Government Scholarship

The Jiangsu province government has established the “Jasmine Jiangsu Government Scholarship” for International Students in Jiangsu Province. Under this award, you can study in Nanjing. You can read more about studying in Nanjing here.

Every year we enrol about 100 students in Nanjing through this quota. And in recent years, Jiangsu Province, thanks to cooperation with institutional companies around the world, has managed to expand the number of students. This scholarship was presented for all ranking universities in the cities of Nanjing, Changzhou, Taizhou.



Siemens Scholarship

Only Tsinghua University provides Siemens scholarship. This scholarship is full and was awarded by Siemens Ltd. China. The main goal is to support excellent global students to pursue Ph.D. degrees, engineering degrees, Computer Science and Technology Department, Academy of Arts and Design, and many other faculties and schools of Tsinghua University.

Scholarships to study in China

Students on Siemens Scholarship will partner with Siemens in 12 areas (features in Table 1), such as cybersecurity, the future of industrialization, robotics, and more to lead Ph.D. research. stage. Through study and practice at the fore of industrial technology development. Scholarship recipients will lay the foundation for the growth of innovative talent in the industry.

You can find more details on the scholarship above by following this link.



Scholarships provided by Chinese universities

2 projects in China carry out certification of the academic prestige of universities: Projects 211 and 985. And all schools included in this list have a budget for awarding foreign students. This type of scholarship is the most popular among foreign students. And its conditions are guaranteed by the academy itself. Typically, such grants will need to be confirmed annually by academic performance and attendance.

For details, contact our consultants.

Why does China provide scholarships for international students?

Since 2006, China has opened scholarship programs for foreign students. The policy of attracting foreign students began to gain momentum in 2013.
Scholarships to study in China



1st reason

Improvement of China’s external economy. Today’s students who are familiar with the culture of China, know the Chinese language. This is an excellent resource and reference for Chinese companies.

2nd reason

Increasing the educational ranking of schools in China. This amount of foreign students is one of the criteria in the formation of the ranking of universities. Moreover, it grows the number of research and laboratory work at the college.

3rd reason

To establish international relations with countries and a global reputation.

Statistics of scholars in China by country:



CountryCountry Number of students
South Korea506
Thailand28,608
Pakistan28,023
India23,198
USA20,996
Russia19,239
Indonesia1,505
Laos14,645
Japan1,423
Kazakhstan11,784
Vietnam11,299
Bangladesh10,735
France10,695
Mongolia10,158
Malaysia9,479

Since this topic is large enough to cover in one article, please note that it is split into multiple articles. You can see other parts of the article at the next links:



Student statistics in China

As a result, in 2018, 429.190 foreign students from 195 countries at 1004 institutes in 31 provinces in China. That is 3.012 people more than in 2017, with a growth rate of 0.63%.

ContinentsNumber of students
Asia295,043 (59.95%)
Africa81,562 (16.57%)
Europe73,618 (14.96%)
America35,733 (7.26%)
Oceania6,229 (1.27%)