How to apply for a Chinese scholarship

I’ve had many requests around the details of my scholarship to China and how to apply. I found that the information available made the application process fairly difficult. Many of those who have been awarded the scholarship are unaware of the next steps, including myself and I am awaiting materials in the post.


However, to get to my stage I thought I would blog a simple ‘to do’ list to help others in their applications for next year.

Firstly, the scholarship programme I applied for is only available to citizens of the EU; however there are many more scholarships available to wherever you are in the world.

SCHOLARSHIP SCHEMES SPONSORED BY CHINESE GOVERNMENT

I found a number of websites about the scholarship with inconsistent deadlines, some say end of April, and some say end of March. Play is safe and get your applications in before the end of March.


The earliest you can submit your application is January, but there’s nothing stopping you in getting all your material ready for then.
So, here’s what you’ll need to do for then:

Register for the following site: http://laihua.csc.edu.cn

You’ll need to select the scholarship you want, I applied for the Chinese Government Scholarship.

On the application number you’ll need to fill in an agency number. Each scholarship programme has a unique agency number, e.g. the one for the Chinese Government Scholarship is 00006.

You’ll also need to select up to three universities you wish to apply for. I’ll provide a list of universities which are supported by the scholarship on my next post.

Once you’ve completed the application you’ll need to print at least two copies.

You’ll then need to prepare a number of documents to support your application. You should submit two copies of each of these documents:

• A copy of your highest diploma or university certificate

• If you are in employment you’ll need a letter from your company to prove that you are working for them

• Academic transcripts: which show your individual grades from your degree, diploma, etc. You may need to contact your college, university for a copy

• A study plan, explaining why and what you’ll do with your scholarship (at least 400 words) This is a chance to show your personality and why you amongst all the other applicants deserve the scholarship. Watch out for a copy of mine in future posts.

• A recommendation letter. I submitted two, one from the head teacher of my Chinese school and one from a senior manager at my work. For a copy of these please see Chinese Government Scholarship Program

Also include a large stamped addressed envelope to yourself. This is so they can post material around your scholarship back to you. Since the application office is in Belgium my post office couldn’t tell me how much it would cost to post back to me, and so I bought a packet of 1st class stamps and stuck them all to the envelope!


The address which you need to post your application off to is: Office for Education and Culture, Mission of P. R. China to the European Union.

Plan ahead, as it may take time to gather all the material and to choose the university which is right for you.

Hope this all helps and there’ll be more on Chinese scholarships soon.

李华