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  2027年中南大学国际硕士研究生招生专业目录2027 Graduate  Programs in CSU.xlsxand 2027年中南大学国际本科生招生专业目录-中文授课 2027 Undergraduate Programs  in CSU-Chinese taught.xlsx for details.

3. Duration: The duration of the scholarship is generally 4-5 years for undergraduate students, 3 years for master’s students, 4 years for doctoral students and 1 year for scholars. The duration of Chinese language learning is generally 1 year. In principle, the duration shall not be extended.

II. Scholarship Coverage

Includes full scholarship and partial scholarship. Full scholarship covers tuition, accommodation fees, medical insurance, and living expenses. A partial scholarship includes parts of the coverage.

III. Where and When to Apply

1. Where to Apply: Apply to the dispatching authorities for overseas study in your home country, usually the education and culture section of the Chinese embassy or consulate in your country.

2. When to Apply: You need to apply between early November and early April. Please consult the dispatching authorities for the specific application time and the agency number of each year.

IV. Application requirements

1. Non-Chinese citizens in good health;

2. A high school graduate with excellent academic performance 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 in your home country for the Chinese Government Scholarship (CGS) opportunity.

2. Please prepare the scanned copies of materials 1-9 listed in Section VI and send them to csc@csu.edu.cn, with the subject line “Name + CSC Type A Pre-admission Letter”;

3. Complete the online application procedure at the 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 in your home country for Instructions on the CGS Information Management System for International Students and the 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: CSC does not accept applications submitted directly by individuals; 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. Passport homepage copy (over one-year availability), and the page of the latest Chinese visa (if any). In principle, only applicants holding a valid Ordinary Passport will be accepted for a study visa and the subsequent residence procedures in China.

3. Highest diploma. Applicants must submit all academic certificates from senior high school up to the highest diploma obtained, so that the chain is complete, A notarized Chinese or English translation shall be attached to any text other than Chinese or English. Requirements are as follows:

For bachelor’s programs, the senior high school graduation certificate;

For master’s programs, the bachelor’s graduation certificate and the bachelor’s degree certificate;

For doctoral programs, the graduation and degree certificates at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels.

Applicants graduating in the current year may submit a pre-graduation certificate or a certificate of enrollment.

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

5. Language proficiency certificate.

Applicants for English-taught programs must obtain a minimum score of 6 in IELTS or 85 in TOEFL (equivalently, 4.0 or above on the new 1–6 TOEFL scale). Applicants whose native language is English, or who have previous degree education taught in English, may be exempted from submitting TOEFL or IELTS scores upon verification by CSU.

Applicants for Chinese-taught programs in science and engineering must obtain a minimum score of 180 in HSK Level 4, and those for humanities, social sciences and medical programs a minimum score of 210 in HSK Level 4. If some majors have specific requirements, the standards specified in the notes to the catalogue of disciplines shall apply. Applicants who have previous degree education taught in Chinese, may be exempted from submitting HSK scores upon verification by CSU.

6. Applicants to undergraduate programs must submit the Score Report of the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA). The mandatory assessment subjects are listed in 2027年中南大学国际本科生招生专业目录-中文授课 2027 Undergraduate Programs  in CSU-Chinese taught.xlsx. For an introduction to the CSCA and for registration procedures, please visit the official website (www.csca.cn).

7. Study plan (see format at  CSU国际学生研究生来华学习计划模板Study Plan for International Graduates.docx, no less than 500 words for undergraduates, no less than 1000 words for graduate students and scholars), must be written in Chinese or English.

8. Physical Examination Record for Foreigner. 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 or English and issued after October 1, 2026.Applicants shall be examined in strict accordance with the items required in  外国人体格检查表Physical Examination Record for Foreigner.pdf. The form is invalid if items are missing, if there is no photograph of the applicant or the photograph bears no stamp, if there is no final examination opinion, or if there is no signature of the physician and stamp of the hospital. The originals of the chest X-ray report, the electrocardiogram (ECG) and the laboratory reports for HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B must be submitted at the same time. The examination must be dated after October 1, 2026. If admitted, please bring the originals when registering at the university.

9. Certificate of Non-criminal record report with an official stamp (Chinese or English version), issued by the public security authority of the applicant’s place of residence. The issue date shall be after October 1, 2026.

10. Recommendation letters. 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.

11. Published academic papers. To enhance the competitiveness of scholarship applications, applicants who have published papers must submit them together with the other application materials. Research output will serve as an important reference in scholarship review.

If there are several papers, please attach a list of publications on the first page and merge it with the first page of each paper for upload. Where a paper has been published in a high-level journal, the full text may be submitted in the same file. All paper materials (the list of publications，first pages and full texts) must be merged into a single PDF file; only one document may be submitted per applicant. Please make sure that the text in the attachment is legible.

12.Applicants under the age of 18 but above 16 must submit the guardian’s identity document, a certificate of employment and a signed Letter of Guarantee 国际学生监护人保证书Letter of Guarantee CSU.doc. The guardian must be an adult residing in China.

13. Students applying for music programs should submit their own works; students applying for fine arts programs 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 the 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, Yuelushan 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)