Entrance examination or assessment: how a Chinese university must judge international applicants

Yes. Under Order No. 42, Article 12, the university must examine or assess foreign citizens who apply, and the university decides admission. The Quality Standards (section 2.2) also require an entrance examination or assessment, and section 2.3 requires the admission decision to follow set procedures and to be recorded in writing. The form the test takes is set by each university, so the admissions brochure of the university you choose is the place to check it.

Order No. 42 (学校招收和培养国际学生管理办法) and the Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial) (来华留学生高等教育质量规范（试行）) are Chinese texts. The English wording on this page is this site's translation of those texts.

What Order No. 42 says

Order No. 42, Article 12 contains three rules:

• The school must review the entry qualifications and financial guarantee proof of foreign citizens who apply, and must test or assess them.
• The school decides the admission of international students.
• The school must not admit an applicant who does not meet the admission conditions.

Article 12 names no form for the test or assessment. It names no subjects, no date and no pass mark.

What the Quality Standards say

Section 2.2, first paragraph. A university must hold an entrance examination or assessment for international students who apply, so that the students it admits reach the entry standard it has set. A university is encouraged (宜) to develop and run its own entrance examination for international students, alone or jointly with other universities, in a form that fits its actual conditions and meets the requirements of assessment.

Section 2.2, second paragraph. A university must clearly set the academic level requirements and the assessment methods for entry. It must set them on the basis of a study of the education situation in its main source countries. It must assess an applicant's academic level accurately, using the following bases:

• academic achievement and academic results from the applicant's education;
• results of education examinations in China;
• results of foreign education examinations that have public credibility.

Section 2.2 ends this list with 等 (and so on), so the three bases are introduced as examples rather than a closed list.

Section 2.2 names no subjects for the entrance examination and no format for it. It names no pass mark. It names no particular foreign examination.

Section 2.3. A university must decide admission results under clear, standard procedures and rules. It must base those decisions on the entrance examination or assessment results. It must take into account national needs and the public interest. It must keep written records of the important matters in admission and store them properly. Section 2.3 names no period for keeping those records.

Section 2, the general principle. A university must publish admissions information truthfully, accurately and completely. Its admissions follow the principles of standardisation, openness and fairness. It must set reasonable examination and assessment methods.

Suggestions for your application

These points are suggestions. They are not rules in the texts above.

• Read the admissions brochure of each university you are considering for the form of its test, its date and its subjects. Neither Article 12 nor section 2.2 names these.
• Keep your education records and any results of examinations listed in section 2.2. Section 2.2 names these as the bases for judging academic level.

Sources

• Quality Standards for the Higher Education of International Students in China (Trial), Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
• Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42), Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)

Checked 11 October 2026

This page is an unofficial summary. It is not published by or affiliated with the Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council or any university, and it is not legal advice. If it differs from the official text, the official text and the current notice of the university or authority handling your case prevail.