Article 1 The provisional measures are stipulated for the purpose of promoting the international exchange and cooperation of higher education in China, ensuring the quality of the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree conferred on the international students by the institutions of higher education.
Article 2 The units and its disciplines and majors, conferring the degrees on the international students, shall be institutions of higher education whose disciplines and specialties are authorized by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council to confer the bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and doctoral degree.
Article 3 The Degree conferment on international students should be based on relevant provisions in the Regulations on Academic Degrees of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations on Academic Degrees”) and the Interim Measures on the Regulations on Academic Degrees of the People’s Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Interim Measures on the Regulations of Academic Degrees”). In addition to the requirement of politically friendliness to China, it is requested to comply with the principles and spirits of the existing degree system, and also take the practical situation of various countries into consideration to seek truth from facts and ensure the quality.
Article 4 During the study period, international students must abide by Chinese laws and regulations and the university disciplines.
Article 5 In accord with the provisional measures, bachelor’s degree shall be conferred on international undergraduates by the institutions of higher education on the condition that they are qualified for graduation and have attained the academic standards stipulated in Article 4 of The Regulations of Academic Degrees. The detailed requirements are as follows:
1. Pass the examinations of the required and specialized courses and the tests of the elective courses.
2. Achieve the preliminary level of Chinese. Students are requested to have the preliminary ability to use Chinese to communicate in daily life and read the Chinese materials in their own specialty. China Overview shall be arranged as a required course for international undergraduates.
3. Finish the dissertation (graduation design or other graduation practice, hereinafter inclusive) of a certain workload.
Article 6 The institutions of higher education should confer the bachelor’s degree on international students in accordance with the following procedures:
1. In accordance with the provisions stipulated in Article 4 and 5 of the provisional measures, the Academic Degree Evaluation Sub-committee examines international undergraduates who are about to graduate and submit the list of the qualified students to the university’s Academic Degree Evaluation Committee for bachelor’s degree conferment.
2. Bachelor’s degree of relevant disciplines shall be conferred on to international undergraduate after the deliberation of the university’s Academic Degree Evaluation Committee.
Article 7 In accord with the provisional measures, bachelor’s degree shall be conferred on international masters by the institutions of higher education on the condition that they have passed examinations in the required courses for the master’s degree, successfully defended their dissertations and have attained the academic standards stipulated in Article 5 of The Regulations of Academic Degrees.
Article 8 The international students, applying for master’s degree, should pass the examinations of the degree courses and the examinations or tests of other required and elective courses. The detailed requirements are as follows:
1. Three to four fundamental theoretical courses and specialized courses shall be arranged as degree courses.
2. Chinese course. International students who have already got bachelor’s degree in China and applied again to study for the master’s degree are required to have the preliminary ability to use Chinese to communicate in daily life and read the Chinese materials in their own specialties. Students who have got the diplomas of other countries (home country included, hereinafter inclusive) which are equivalent to the bachelor’s degree of China are required to have the preliminary ability to use Chinese to communicate in daily life. China Overview shall be arranged as a required course for international master students.
3. Elective courses. The disciplines and specialties can offer some elective courses according to the necessity of international students who come to China for master’s degree.
For international students who have already studied the courses of relevant disciplines and specialties of master’s degree in other countries and apply for the study for master’s degree in China, the institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall organize an expert panel (three to five associate professors and professors) to carry out the examination, audit or test of the courses which were already finished by the international students in other countries, with reference to such materials provided by the applicants as the course names, the transcripts, the recommendation letters from two experts (equivalent to associate professors or professors), etc. The students can be granted exemption from the courses approved by the expert panel; otherwise, the students shall retake the relevant courses according to this provision.
Students, who have not achieved the above requirements, can make up or retake the relevant courses within one year; if they still cannot achieve the above requirements after one year, they cannot attend the defense of dissertation.
Article 9 International students applying for master’s degree must write the dissertations (including the subjective reports). In accordance with the different cultivation standards, the institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall make different requirements to the dissertations. The dissertation can be a report about academic research, science and technology, research methodology, engineering design and case study, etc., which reflects the applicant’s ability of research study or the comprehensive use of basic theories and expertise to solve practical problems.
Article 10 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall make the strict scrutiny to the international students’ qualification of applying for master’s degree. The qualified students can defend their dissertations; otherwise, they cannot defend their dissertations in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Article 4, 8 and 9 of the provisional measures.
Article 11 The cultivation, provided by the institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties, for international master students shall adopt the full-time training in principle, that is to say, the whole cultivation should be finished in China. It is recommended that international students write the dissertation in accordance with the real situations of their countries. If it is necessary and the research supervisor has approved it, the international students can spend a portion of the study period going back to their home countries for the dissertation writing, but the time spent in China for the dissertation writing cannot be shorter than six months. And the defense of the dissertation must be carried out in China.
Article 12 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall review the dissertation and organize the defense for international master students in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Article 6, 8 and 9 of the Interim Measures on the Regulations of Academic Degrees. For students who have passed the defense, the chairman of the dissertation committee shall sign on the dissertations and submit them to the university’s Academic Degree Evaluation Committee for the approval of conferring master’s degree. After the approval of the dissertation committee, students who have not passed the dissertation defense or who are required to defense again can modify the dissertation within one year and defend the dissertation once again.
III. Doctoral Degree
Article 13 In accord with the provisional measures, the doctoral degree shall be conferred by the institutions of higher education on PhD students who have passed examinations of the required courses and the dissertation defense and attained the academic standards stipulated in Article 6 in the Regulations on Academic Degrees.
Article 14 The doctoral dissertations written by the international PhD students in China shall indicate that they have the ability to independently engage in the scientific research and obtain the creative achievements in the science or specialized technology. The doctoral dissertations written by the international PhD students of Engineering, Clinical Medicine and other applied disciplines and specialties shall be of great practical value and suggest that the students have the ability to independently engage in the scientific research or specialized technology.
Article 15 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall offer the necessary courses in accordance with the necessity for the scientific research of the international students pursuing for doctoral degree. The applicants for doctoral degree shall pass the examinations in the required courses during the study period. The detailed requirements are as follows:
1. Basic theoretical courses and specialized courses. Students are required to master substantial and extensive basic theories as well as systematic and profound expertise.
2. Chinese course. International students who have already got master’s or bachelor’s degree in China and applied for study in China for doctoral degrees are required to possess the ability to use Chinese to communicate in daily life and read the Chinese materials in their own specialties. Students who have got the diplomas in other countries which are equivalent to master’s degree of China are required to possess the preliminary ability to use Chinese to communicate in daily life and read the Chinese materials in their own specialties. China Overview shall be arranged as a required course for international PhD students.
3. One foreign language (the mother language and Chinese excluded). Students are required to possess the preliminary ability of reading the specialized materials in the foreign language. It can be arranged as an elective course. Students who have not achieved the above requirements cannot attend the defense of dissertation.
Article 16 There are two methods for the institutions of higher education to cultivate the international PhD students: one is full-time training, that is the whole period of cultivation is finished in China; the other is on-the-job training, that is the course study and the dissertation writing can be finished in both China and other countries.
For international PhD students under on-the-job training, if they have finished the course study in other countries, they should attend the course examinations in China; if they have finished the dissertation writing in other countries, they should defend the dissertation in China. The total time of course study and research activity in China should not be shorter than one and a half years.
Article 17 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall make the strict scrutiny to the qualification of the international students who apply for doctoral degree in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Article 4, 14, 15 and 16 of the provisional measures. The qualified students can defend their dissertations; otherwise, they cannot defend their dissertations.
Article 18 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall review the dissertation and organize the defense for international PhD students in accordance with the provisions stipulated in Article 10, 12, 13 and 14ofThe Interim Measures on the Regulations of Academic Degrees. For students who have passed the defense, the chairman of the dissertation committee shall sign on the dissertations and submit them to the university’s Academic Degree Evaluation Committee for the approval of conferring doctoral degree. After the approval of the dissertation committee, students who have not passed the dissertation defense or who are required to defend again can modify the dissertation within two years and defend the dissertation once again.
IV. Others
Article 19 International students studying for the bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees of the specialties in Philosophy, Economics, Laws, Education, Literature, History, Art, Chinese Medicine and Clinical Medicine, etc., shall write and defend the dissertations in Chinese. The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall carry out the examination, audit and conferment of the degrees in accordance with the relevant provisions.
The international students studying for the bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees of other disciplines and specialties can write and defend their dissertations in Chinese, English or French.
Article 20 When conferring master’s and doctoral degrees on international students who have the equivalent educational level of postgraduates, the institutions of higher education shall refer to the Interim Provisions on Conferring Master’s and Doctoral Degrees on On-the-job Personnel of the Equivalent Educational Level of Postgraduates issued by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council and its specific rules.
Article 21 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall draw up the instructions of the degree conferment on the international students and carry them out in accordance with the relevant provisions stipulated in the provisional measures and their own schooling characteristics.
Article 22 The institutions of higher education and their disciplines and specialties shall conduct a regular follow-up survey of the job information and research activities of international students who gained degrees in China with assistance of embassies and consulates of the People's Republic of China. The Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council, in company with higher education authorities of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities and the State Council's relevant ministries will conduct the inspection and evaluation of the quality of the degree conferment on the international students by the institutions of higher education.
Article 23 The degree certificate conferred on international students by the institutions of higher education shall be written in Chinese. It can be translated into English or French copy. All the versions are equally authentic. The certificate and its translation copy are uniformly printed by the Office of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council.
