News & updates · · 2 min read
CSC Type A versus Type B: which route should you use?
One goes through your national embassy, the other through a designated university. Applying to both is the standard strategy.
Chinese Government Scholarship applications are submitted under one of three programme types. Type A is the embassy route: you apply through the Chinese embassy or designated agency in your country, using the agency number assigned to that mission, and the embassy reviews applications and forwards candidates to CSC. Type B is the university route: you apply to a designated Chinese university, which nominates you. Type C covers specific institutional or bilateral agreements.
You can submit only one Type A application per year, but you may apply to multiple Type B universities. In practice most successful applicants use both routes in parallel, and the assessment committees are separate, so a rejection on one route does not affect the other.
The deadlines differ and the Type A deadline is set by your country's embassy — recent cycles have ranged from 1 February to 22 February across different missions. Check your own embassy's published announcement rather than relying on another country's date.