Chinese Government Scholarship – An Opportunity to Study in China

Chinese Government Scholarship for Indian students is an initiative by the Government of China, in collaboration with the Government of India, to promote mutual understanding, exchange, and cooperation between the two countries. The scholarship offers financial aid to students, scholars and teachers to pursue studies at undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, general scholar and senior scholar levels. In India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Department of Higher Education, Government of India, looks after the selection of students for the Chinese Government Scholarship every year. However, in China, the China Scholarship Council (CSC) holds the responsibility for administration and enrolment of this scholarship program.

Under the Chinese Government Scholarship program, the students are open to pursue studies in different academic programs in the field of engineering, science, agriculture, economics, medicine, legal studies, education, management, history, philosophy, literature, and fine arts at across 289 designated universities in China.  Want to know more about the Chinese Government Scholarship? This article provides you with in-depth information about its eligibility, application process, award details, selection criteria and more. Before heading on to its details, here is a brief overview of the scholarship for your understanding.

Chinese Government Scholarship – An Overview

*The dates mentioned above are applicable for Chinese Government Scholarship 2019-20. It may vary every year based on the discretion of the scholarship provider.

Chinese Government Scholarship – Eligibility

The Chinese Government Scholarship comes with certain pre-defined set of eligibility criteria that a student needs to mandatorily fulfil. These conditions are primarily based on your education qualification and age. The students who wish to pursue an undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, general scholar or senior scholar program from any of the designated Chinese universities can apply for this scholarship. The details of qualification and age for each program are given in the table hereunder –

Detailed Eligibility Criteria for Chinese Government Scholarship

Note: The scholarship is also open for students who have been abroad for research/training/study purpose for more than six months either on a scholarship or their own, only if they have been in India for at least 2 years after their return.

Chinese Government Scholarship – Application Process

The application process for Chinese Government Scholarship is available online. Initially, the eligible students have to apply through their respective dispatching authorities. For Indian students, MHRD plays the role of dispatching authority. It has its own portal, named Sakshat, through which it invites applications from the eligible candidate and thereafter shortlists the final nominees. Additionally, the candidates are also required to apply through the portal of CSC (China Scholarship Council). Here is a step-wise description of the application process of the scholarship to make the process easier and convenient for you –

Step 1: Visit the Sakshat portal of MHRD.

Step 2: Select the scholarship you want to apply for and click on “Apply” button.

Step 3: Fill in all the required details including your personal, academic and other information.

Step 4: Upload all required documents.

Step 5: Finally, submit the application.

Step 6: Once you have successfully submitted your online application on Sakshat portal, visit the portal of Chinese Scholarship Council.

Step 7: Click on “Student Registration” to create your account with your email.

Step 8: After successful registration, activate your account through the link received on your registered email id.

Step 9: Once the account is activated, log in using your username and password.

Step 10: Read all the instructions carefully and proceed further to apply online.

Step 11: Fill in all required details and upload all supporting documents.

Step 12: Submit the application.

Note: The candidates are not required to send any hard copy of the application to the provider.

Chinese Government Scholarship – Documents Required

The following documents are required to be uploaded by the students while applying on the Sakshat portal of MHRD –

• Scanned and self-attested copy of the mark-sheet, degrees, certificate, diploma, etc.
• Upload the official explanation adopted by the Institution/University along with Mark-sheet/degree where the grades are mentioned.
• Self-attested copy of class 10 certificate as a proof of date of birth

The candidates should make sure that the size of the documents should be less than 530 KB. All documents uploaded should be in .pdf format. The students can zip the documents if they require to upload more than one document in a single place.

Furthermore, while applying online on the portal of CSC, the applicants need to upload the following documents –

• Academic transcripts
• Research proposal or a study plan in not more than 200 words (for undergraduate students), 500 words (for non-degree students) and 800 words (for graduate students).
• Two letters of recommendation signed by the associate professors or professors (applicable for graduate programs or senior scholar program)
• CD of works (applicable for art students only)
• Pre-admission letter (if available)
• Copy of HSK certificate (if available)

Note: All these documents should be either in English language or Chinese language.

Chinese Government Scholarship – Award Details

A total of 39 slots are available under the Chinese Government Scholarship. While the Government of India only covers the airfare of the international passage for the journey from India to China, the Government of China offers various other benefits for the selected scholars. The selected students are either eligible for a full scholarship or partial scholarship coverage under this program. A detailed overview of the financial assistance rendered by the Chinese Government is given hereunder –

Full Scholarship

A full scholarship comprises –

• Tuition fee waiver that covers the cost of education, administration and expenditures that support student activities.
• Accommodation involves either free university dormitory or accommodation subsidy of up CNY 1,000 per month.
• Monthly stipend of CNY 2,500 for undergraduate students, CNY 3,000 for master’s and general scholars, and CNY 3,500 for doctoral and senior scholars.
• Complete medical insurance.

Partial Scholarship

• A partial scholarship covers one or some items that are covered under full scholarship.

Want to know the standard coverage of the scholarship? Refer to the tables below which provide you with in-depth information about scholarship coverage and standard for different fields of study.

Table 1 provides the details of fields such as Economics, Philosophy, Education, Legal Studies, Literature (excluding Fine Arts), Management, and History.

Table 1: Chinese Government Scholarship Standard and Coverage

Table 2 provides the details of fields such as Science, Agriculture and Engineering.

Table 2: Chinese Government Scholarship Standard and Coverage

Table 3 provides the details of fields such as Medicine and Fine Arts.

Table 3: Chinese Government Scholarship Standard and Coverage

Chinese Government Scholarship Standard and Coverage

Chinese Government Scholarship – Selection Procedure

The final selection of scholars is made by the Government of China after getting recommendations from MHRD. Initially, the MHRD shortlists the most eligible candidates to nominate them for the scholarship on the basis of following criteria –

• If a student is interested in an undergraduate program, the merit list is prepared on the basis of his/her class 10 and 12 marks. While the marks obtained in class 10 carry 20% weight the marks obtained in class 12 carry 80% weightage.
• If a student applies for master’s, PhD, general scholar or senior scholar program, the merit list is prepared by giving significant weightage to Institutions of national importance/centrally funded educational institutions and NAAC accredited institutions from where the applicant has completed or pursuing his/her qualifying examination.

Note: Students who have the pre-admission letter will get placed in their host university while the students who do not have a pre-admission letter, can accept the placement of university offered by CSC.

Chinese Government Scholarship – Important Terms and Conditions

If you wish to obtain the benefits of the Chinese Government scholarship, you also need to adhere to the following terms and conditions set by the Government of China –

• The students are mandatorily required to study a Chinese language course for about one year before starting their study in relevant subject in the Chinese language.
• The medium of study in China is Chinese language.
• Employed candidates should have an assurance from their employers that they are granted with sufficient leaves for their period of study in China.
• The students should not involve themselves in any kind of canvassing, or suppression of any fact while applying for the scholarship as it may lead to their disqualification.
• It is expected that the students have adequate knowledge about the geographical situation, heritage and culture of China before starting their study.
• The students should make sure that they provide a working email while applying as all communications in future will be made through their registered email only.

In case, of any query related to the Chinese Government Scholarship, the students can contact on 011-26172896.