Pre-admission letter from a Chinese university: what counts under the scholarship guide

A pre-admission letter is what the scholarship guide calls a "pre-admission document". Item 7 of Section VI of the Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship says that all applicants must provide one, issued by the universities applying. The guide is a set of conditions for that scholarship. It is not a general admission rule for self-funded students.

What item 7 says

Item 7 reads: "All applicants must provide a pre-admission document issued by the universities applying. Pre-admission documents include pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department or invitation letter from the schools or professors, etc."

Item 7 names two kinds of document:

• a pre-admission notice issued by the international students' admission department;
• an invitation letter from the schools or professors.

The list ends with "etc.", so the two kinds are examples that item 7 gives, not a closed list.

Item 7 sets no deadline for obtaining the document. It names no form or template for it.

Item 7 belongs to the scholarship application. This article discusses it only in that context.

Where it fits in the application

Section V of the guide numbers seven steps. Steps 2, 3 and 4 come in this order:

• Step 2 is reaching the designated university for admission documents.
• Step 3 is reaching an application receiving agency for a recommendation.
• Step 4 is filling in and submitting the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online.

Step 2 refers to "admission documents". Item 7 refers to a "pre-admission document". Neither Section V nor item 7 defines one of these terms by the other.

The full sequence in Section V is:

1. An applicant shall learn about designated Chinese universities and majors they offer by visiting websites or other means, and identify the preferred scholarship program, designated university and major.
2. An applicant shall reach the designated university for admission documents.
3. An applicant shall reach an application receiving agency for a recommendation.
4. An applicant shall fill in and submit the Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship online via the Chinese Government Scholarship Information System.
5. The application receiving agency shall submit the recommended candidates list and their application documents.
6. The CSC will organize designated universities and experts concerned to examine applicants' eligibility and academic performance before finalizing the short-list candidates.
7. The CSC will notify the admission results to the application receiving agency that will subsequently have the applicant informed.

Section V gives no calendar date for any of these steps.

The University Program

Section I, part (II) of the guide describes the University Program. It is designed to finance the study of talented international students in China who are recommended by designated Chinese universities. The guide says the student categories it supports vary and are subject to the requirements of each university. Under the same part, an applicant shall file an application with the Chinese universities undertaking this program.

A suggestion, not a requirement

Ask the university in step 2 which kind of pre-admission document it issues. Knowing this early helps you plan the rest of the steps. This is advice from this site. It is not a rule in the guide.

Sources

• Application Guide for Chinese Government Scholarship, China Scholarship Council (Campus China)

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 the official text differs from this page, the official text and the current notice of the university or authority handling your case prevail.