Skip to content

Students already at a school that is not on the list: what the Ministry told schools to do

Sources checked · Unofficial summary

Three Chinese Ministry of Education provisions set duties for schools that are not on the list of schools enrolling international students in English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine. The main one is paragraph 3 of the 2007 notice, which tells such schools that had already enrolled these students before the notice was issued to teach them properly under the original plan, to explain their position if asked, and not to hold back a student who asks to transfer. These are duties the Ministry set for schools, not rules for students, and this page does not say what any home-country regulator does with a degree from such a school. For the current list, see this register's section page.

The English on this page is this site's own translation of Chinese text. The list for the 2023–2024 academic year is the one this page refers to when it mentions the list, and the Ministry's policy index showed no later edition when this site read it on 11 October 2026. Readers should confirm the current year's status with the university and the Ministry.

The three provisions

Provision Document Addressed to
Paragraph 3 of the 2007 notice Ministry of Education notice 教外来〔2007〕39号, issuing the Interim Provisions on Quality Control Standards for Undergraduate Medical Education in English for International Students Schools not on the published list that had already admitted international students to English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine before the notice was issued
Paragraph 2 of the 2023–2024 notice Ministry of Education General Office notice 教外厅函〔2023〕10号, dated 15 May 2023 and published on the Ministry's site on 30 May 2023 Schools on and not on the 2023–2024 list; the points below concern schools not on that list
Article 13 of Order No. 42 Measures for the Administration of Schools Recruiting and Educating International Students, Order No. 42 of the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, in force from 1 July 2017 Higher education institutions (高等学校) that receive international students admitted by other schools or transferring from them

These three provisions are separate. This page gives each one as written and does not read one into another.

Paragraph 3 of the 2007 notice, item by item

Paragraph 3 covers schools that are not on the published list but that had already admitted international students to English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine before the notice was issued. It has three numbered items.

Item 1: teaching and management of students already admitted. Under item 1, the school should teach and manage the international students already admitted with high quality. The school should do this under the original teaching plan and the requirements of the Interim Provisions.

Item 2: the explanation to give. If enrolled international students raise doubts about the school's eligibility to admit them, item 2 says the school should explain the following. From the 2007/2008 academic year, the state applies plan management to the enrolment of international students in English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine. The state did not assign the school an enrolment plan for that academic year, so the school is not on the list.

Item 3: transfer requests. If enrolled international students request a transfer, item 3 says the student applies to the school the student wants to transfer into. The current school should not hold the student back. If transfer formalities are needed, the school should actively consult the receiving school under the original relevant rules and handle the matter properly. Item 3 does not name the "original relevant rules" it refers to.

Two other paragraphs of the 2007 notice give context. Paragraph 2 gives a list of 30 universities for the 2007/2008 academic year. Paragraph 4 describes that list as dynamic and says the expert group assesses whether a school meets the Interim Provisions and publishes the result when it issues the annual enrolment plan.

Paragraph 2 of the 2023–2024 notice

Paragraph 2 concerns the list for the 2023–2024 academic year. For schools that are not on that list, it says the following.

  • They may not enrol international students in English-taught undergraduate clinical medicine.
  • They may not issue an English-version degree certificate for undergraduate clinical medicine (MBBS), or any English-version degree certificate that contains the word "MBBS".
  • They may enrol only international students taught in Chinese, and the training standard may not be lower than the standard for domestic undergraduate clinical medicine students.
  • The notice strictly prohibits using a "bilingual teaching" model to enrol international students in disguised form.

Article 13 of Order No. 42

Article 13 reads, in this site's English translation of the Chinese text: "A higher education institution may, with the consent of the original enrolling school, receive international students who were admitted by other schools or who are transferring from other schools."

The article uses 可以, which is rendered "may". Article 13 names no form in which the consent is given. Order No. 42 was issued jointly by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security, and the promulgation text states that it takes effect from 1 July 2017.

Questions people ask

Does the 2007 notice tell a school to stop teaching students who are already enrolled?

Paragraph 3, item 1 of the 2007 notice tells such schools to teach and manage the international students already admitted with high quality. It also says this should be done under the original teaching plan and the requirements of the Interim Provisions.

Can an enrolled international student ask to transfer to another school?

Paragraph 3, item 3 of the 2007 notice says that if enrolled international students request a transfer, the student applies to the school they want to transfer into. The current school should not hold the student back. Article 13 of Order No. 42 separately says a higher education institution may, with the consent of the original enrolling school, receive transferring international students.

Is a particular university on the 2023–2024 list?

The list is an annex to the 2023–2024 notice, and the annex lists universities by their Chinese names. This register uses English names. The Ministry's policy index showed no later edition when this site read it on 11 October 2026, so readers should confirm the current status with the university and the Ministry.

Sources

Checked 11 October 2026.

This page is an unofficial summary of the texts named above. It is not legal, medical or professional-licensing advice, it is not published by the bodies named, and it promises no admission, examination or registration outcome. The official text and the regulator's own instructions prevail if they differ.

MBBS Register Desk