Start months printed in the official texts: September, March, July and December
Articles 10 and 11 of Order No. 42, the Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students, name no start month. The start months printed for each study category in the 2025 guidelines of the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship are September, March, July or December, and they are that scholarship's dates for the 2025 cycle only.
See also Terms on this site.
Article 10 of Order No. 42 says a university independently determines its international student enrolment plan and its majors, except where the state provides otherwise. Article 11 says a university formulates and publishes its own international student admissions brochure under the national admissions rules, and admits international students under the conditions and procedures in that brochure. The English wording of both articles is this site's translation of the Chinese text.
Start months by study category
The table below gives the start months as the 2025 guidelines print them.
| Study category in the 2025 guidelines | Start month(s) printed for the 2025 cycle |
|---|---|
| One-year study programme (section 4) | September 2025 |
| One-semester study programme (section 5) | September 2025 or March 2026 |
| Four-week study programme (section 6) | July or December 2025 |
| Online one-year Chinese language study (section 8, item a) | September or March each year |
| Online one-semester Chinese language study (section 8, item b) | September or March each year |
How to read the table
These months belong to the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship. The 2025 guidelines are that scholarship's own document, and the start months in them are for that scholarship.
The one-semester row prints two cycles, September 2025 and March 2026. The two online rows print September or March each year, without a year.
All dates in the 2025 guidelines are dates of the 2025 cycle, and they have passed. Read the guidelines for the current year before you rely on any month shown here.
Start dates for university programmes
For a university programme, the start dates are in that university's own admissions brochure. Article 11 of Order No. 42 provides for that brochure. This page does not give any university's dates.
Sources
- Application Guidelines for International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship 2025, Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC, chinese.cn)
- Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students (Order No. 42), Ministry of Education of the PRC (moe.gov.cn)
Checked 10 October 2026 for the scholarship guidelines and 11 October 2026 for Order No. 42.
This page is an unofficial summary, is not legal or immigration advice, and is not published by the bodies named. The official text and the instructions of the body handling your case prevail if they differ.