The Bilateral Program includes a full or partial scholarship established by the Ministry of Education in accordance with educational exchange agreements or consensus between the Chinese government and governments of other countries, institutions, universities, or international organizations.

I. Supporting Categories, Duration, and Instruction Language

1. Supporting Category: The Bilateral Program supports undergraduate students, graduate students, general scholars and senior scholars. Please consult the dispatching authorities of your home country for the categories available.

2. Instruction Language: Undergraduate programs are taught in Chinese. Graduate and non-degree programs are usually in Chinese, but some majors can be taught in English (Please refer to  2025 Undergraduate Programs in CSU.xlsx & 2025 Graduate Programs in CSU.xlsx for detailed information).

3. Duration: The duration of the scholarship is generally 4-5 years for undergraduate students, 3 years for master's degree students, 4 years for doctoral degree students, and 1 year for scholars. The duration of language learning is generally 1-2 years.

II. Scholarship Coverage

Includes full scholarship and partial scholarship. Full scholarship covers tuition, accommodation fees, medical insurance, and living expenses (undergraduate- 2500 RMB/month; Master student- 3000 RMB/month; Doctor student- 3500 RMB/month; General Scholar- 3000 RMB/month; Senior Scholar- 3500 RMB/month). Partial scholarship includes parts of coverage.

III. Where and When to Apply

1. Where to Apply: Apply to the dispatching authorities for overseas study in your home country.

2. When to Apply: You need to apply between early January and early April. Please consult the dispatching authorities for the specific deadline of each year.

IV. Eligibility

1. Non-Chinese citizens; good health;

2. A high school graduate under the age of 25 when applying for undergraduate programs;

3. A bachelor's-degree-holder under the age of 35 when applying for master's programs;

4. A master's-degree-holder under the age of 40 when applying for doctoral programs;

5. Under the age of 45 and have a high school diploma (or higher) when applying for the general scholar programs;

6. A master's-degree-holder or an associate professor (or above) under the age of 50 when applying for the senior scholar programs.

V. Application procedure

1. Apply to the dispatching authorities for overseas study of your home country for CGS opportunity;

2. Please prepare materials 1-8 in the Application Materials and send them to csc@csu.edu.cn with the subject line "Name +CSC Pre-admission Application"

3. Complete the online application procedure at CGS Information Management System for International Students (Visit http://www.csc.edu.cn/studyinchina or http://www.campuschina.org and click "Application Online" to log in), submit online the completed Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship, and print a hard copy. You should consult the dispatching authorities for overseas study of your home country for Instructions on CGS Information Management System for International Students and Agency Number. Please select CENTRAL SOUTH UNIVERSITY as your FIRST OPTION.

4. Submit all of your application documents to the dispatching authorities of your home country before the deadline.

NOTE: Only applications of recommended candidates from dispatching authorities will be considered. Candidates holding a Pre-admission Notice will be placed in the host university; those without the Pre-admission Notice should accept CSC's placement in the university.

VI. Application Materials

1. Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship (in Chinese or English);

2. Homepage of passport (Over one-year availability), and the page of the latest Chinese visa (If any);

3. Highest graduation certificate. If the applicant is a student, he/she must provide a copy of his/her school certificate and a copy of his/her performance certificate. A notarized Chinese or English translation shall be attached to any text other than Chinese or English;

4. Transcript. A notarized Chinese or English translation version shall be attached to any text other than Chinese or English;

5. If you have obtained the HSK/IELTS/TOEFL report, please attach it to the application materials;

6. Study or research plan in China (not less than 200 words for undergraduates, no less than 500 words for scholars, and no less than 800 words for graduate students), must be written in Chinese or English;

7. Applicants who will study in China for more than 6 months must submit the Physical Examination Form for foreigners which must be completed in Chinese/English, and issued after October 1, 2024. Applicants shall be examined in strict accordance with the items required in  Physical Examination Record.pdf. The Form is invalid if the form has missing items, doesn’t have the applicant’s photo or the photo doesn’t have a seal on, or doesn’t have the signature from the doctor and seal from the hospital.

8. Non-criminal record with an official stamp in Chinese/English. The issue date shall be after October 1, 2024.

9. Letters of recommendation. Applicants who apply for master's degrees, doctoral degrees, and senior scholar programs in China must submit recommendation letters from two professors or associate professors in Chinese or English.

10. Applicants under the age of 18 shall submit relevant legal documents of their legal guardians in China;

11. Students applying for the music major should submit their own works; Students applying for the major of fine Arts should provide 2 sketches, 2 color paintings, and 2 other works of their own.

VII. Placement & Scholarship Confirmation

1. Application documents of recommended candidates from dispatching authorities will be considered by CSC for eligibility and qualification. Ineligible or incomplete applications will not be considered.

2.  Qualified applications will be sent to universities for placement. Based on various factors, such as the different scholarship funding requirements of every country, the host university's teaching capacity, study length, and applicants' criteria, CSC reserves the right to make necessary adjustments/changes to the candidate’s host university, the field of study, supporting categories and duration of the scholarship. Applications enclosed with the Pre-admission Letter will be sent to the universities that issued that Letter for placement confirmation. Please choose CENTRAL SOUTH UNIVERSITY as your FIRST OPTION.

3. After placement confirmation by Chinese universities, scholarship Recipients will get Chinese government scholarships to study in China with approval by CSC. Each scholarship recipient will be granted no more than one scholarship.

4. CSC reviews the placement results, approves the List of Scholarship Recipients, and sends the admission documents to the Chinese embassy or consulate-general. The Chinese embassy or consulate-general will send the admission documents (List of Scholarship Recipients, Admission Letter, and Visa Application Form for Study in China (JW201)) to the dispatching authorities or scholarship recipients.

5. Scholarship recipients shall not be allowed to change their host university, the field of study, or the duration of study stipulated on the Admission Letter after coming to China.

6. Scholarship will not be reserved if the scholarship recipient cannot register before the registration deadline.

VIII. Contact for China Scholarship Council

Please refer to http://www.campuschina.org/zh/content/details1003_122937.html for detailed information

IX. Contacts of School of International Education, CSU

Address: Office 214 in Main campus Library, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China

Postal Code: 410083

Telephone: +86-731-88836410

Fax: +86-731-88836737

E-mail: csc@csu.edu.cn

Website: https://intl.csu.edu.cn/zwb.htm (Chinese)

https://intl.csu.edu.cn/index.htm（English）