Guangdong University of Finance & Economics(GDUFE)
2025 International Students Enrollment Guide
for Full–time Doctorate Students
Introduction of GDUFE
Guangdong University of Finance and Economics (GDUFE) was founded in 1983 and it was authorized to confer doctor’s degree since 2021. It consists of two campuses with a total land area of about 150 hectares, one in Guangzhou city and one in Foshan city, both of which are core cities of Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Guangzhou Campus is located in the core area of Pazhou National AI and Digital Economy Demonstration Center, with walking distance to Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center where Canton Fair is annually held, and Foshan campus is located within the scenic Yundonghai Tourism Economic District in Foshan City.It has adhered to the distinct characteristics of integration of business and law, practical entrepreneurship, and diverse collaboration. After 41 years of development, GDUFE has become a comprehensive university of finance and economics with distinct disciplinary characteristics, strong teaching faculty, significant educational achievement, and high social influence and reputation.
GDUFE has developed a multi-disciplinary education system in economics, management, law, humanities, science, engineering, art and education. It offers 67 bachelor programs, including 18 nationalfirst-level programs and 16 provincial first-level programs. And it offers 2 first-level disciplines conferring doctoral degree, 1 second-level discipline conferring doctoral degree, 11 first-level disciplines conferring master degree, 1 second-level discipline conferring master degree, and 23 professional master programs. The total enrollment of full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students is over 30,000.It has established partnerships with more than 80 universities and scientific research agencies from over 30 countries and regions in the world.
I. Doctoral Program
Doctoral Program | School | Enrollment Plan | Teaching Language | Campus |
International Trade | School of Economics | 6 | Chinese | Guangzhou |
II. Study form and duration
1. Study form: Full-time study.
2. Standard duration of study: 4 years; Maximum study length: 7 years.
III. Eligibility
1. Applicants should be non-Chinese citizens with a valid foreign passport, and the expiry date of the passport should be later than December 31, 2025.
2. Applicants are in good physical and mental health and shall abide by the laws and regulations of China and the rules of school. No records of violation of regulations or rules of schools. No public security penalties, and no criminal record.
3. Applicants should hold a master’s degree or above, and should be under the age of 40. Applicants who haven’t graduated when applying shall provide pre-graduation certificate while the official degree certificate must be provided before enrollment.
4. Language certificate: HSK 5 with score of 180 or above; or HSK certificate can be exempted on condition that applicants took a master program with Chinese as medium of teaching and provides an official certificate of Chinese as teaching language after examined by GDUFE.
5. To show innovation, creativity and academic potential, applicants should submit at least one academic paper which has been published in C-class journals or higher in relevant discipline with the applicant as an independent author, or the first author, or second author with the supervisor the first) before application deadline.
IV. Application Deadline and How to Apply
1. Application Deadline: May 1, 2025
2.How to Apply: Log in the application system and apply: gdufe.at0086.cn/student
V. Application Materials
1. Application Form For International Student Applying For Study At Guangdong University Of Finance & Economics (see Attachment 1) . Please submit it in doc form.
2. A scanned copy of passport info page. The expiry date of a passport should be later than December 31, 2025.Applicants who are currently in China shall submit valid visa page or residence permit and entry stamp. Those who ever held citizenship of Chinese mainland, Hongkong, Macao or Taiwan and then joined any other nationality, shall submit certificate of Chinese citizenship annulment or other official certificates issued by Chinese diplomatic missions or consular institutions.
3. Scanned copy of Graduation Certificate and Master Degree, which should be notarized. A notarized Chinese or English translation is demanded if the original documents are not in English or Chinese.
(1) Those who graduate from Chinese universities, the degree and graduation certificates should be verified by China Credential Verification (https://www.chsi.com.cn) and verification reports should be submitted.
(2) Applicants who graduate from oversea universities must provide the Foreign Education Certification issued by the China Education Ministry's Study Abroad Service Center (https://www.cscse.edu.cn), or certification materials issued by Chinese embassies abroad or equivalent legal certification materials.
(3) Those who have not graduated should submit a pre-graduation certificate. Graduation and degree certificate should be provided before enrollment, or admission will be canceled.
4. Complete transcripts of all courses during postgraduate study.
5. Two Letters of Recommendation from postgraduate education universities (Signed by professors or associate professors in Chinese or English with the name of the referral and contact information).
6. Personal statement (around 1500 words, and written in English or Chinese, and should include: the intended major, personal experience of study and work, academic research results, especiallystudy and research plan for doctoral program etc.).
7. Other materials that show the applicant's performance and research capability: English proficiency certificate, thesis and thesis review(graduates of 2025 shall submit the proposal and preliminary draft of thesis), published academic papers, patents and other research achievement certificates etc. For thesis, applicants should extract the abstract and key sections, with a total of no more than 50 pages of materials. Also for each published paper, applicants should put the journal cover, content page, and main body pages in one file.
8. Language Proficiency Certificate: HSK 5 with a score over 180.
9. Resume (see Attachment 2):fill in the resume by following instructions in it.
10. Statement of Financial Support (see Attachment 3 for a template) and aBank Deposit Certificate of the applicant or the applicant’s sponsor (at least 40,000 RMB). A relationship certificate shall be submitted if the applicant submits a sponsor’s bank deposit certificate.
11. Foreigner Physical Examination Form (see Attachment 3): It should be valid in six months (see Attachment 3) with official stamps from a hospital.
12. Non-criminal Record Report: Applicants must submit a valid non-criminal record issued by the local public security authority in their home country and Chinese translation of it, which should be valid in 6 months before the date of application submission. When applying, those who have been residing in China for more than 6 months are also required to submit a certificate of non- criminal record issued by the public security organs in China.
13.Guangdong Government Outstanding International Student Scholarship Application Form (see Attachment 4 if apply).
* In addition to the application materials detailed above, applicants should submit other supplementary materials in time to the requirements of GDUFE.
* Documents other than Chinese or English are required to be translated and notarized.
* Applicants who provide incomplete materials will not be accepted. The materials above won’t be returned whether you are admitted or not.
VI. Admission Procedures
1. Qualification Review: GDUFE will review applicants’ eligibility including nationality, highest degree, recommendation letters, academic transcripts, language certificates, and other supporting materials and finalize candidates for interview.
2. Interview:Eligible applicants attend an interviewonline or offlineassessing comprehensive quality, language ability, etc. Details regarding time, way of interview will be notified through email by GDUFE.
3. Admission
(1) GDUFE will conduct a final review and accept applicants based on their qualifications and interview results, and determine Guangdong government scholarship candidates. The final scholarship winner list is subject to the results announced by the Guangdong Provincial Government.
(2) Before June 10, 2025, admission results will be sent to applicants via email.
(3) A scanned copy of Admission Letter, Student Manual, Visa Application for Study in China (JW202), and results of on-campus accommodation application will be sent to the applicant’s email address. Please make sure the email address and contact number are valid with no problems receiving notifications.
(4) Students who are accepted should apply for the X1 visa at their country’s Chinese Embassy (or Chinese Consulate) with GDUFE Admission Letter and“Visa Application for Study in China(JW202)”, and change X1 visa into a Residence permit for Foreign Students within 30 days after they enter China. Students who don’t apply for the relevant visa and residence permit will have to drop out. GDUFE doesn’t accept students with non-student visas.
4. Students who are accepted must register on the date in the address according to “GDUFE Admission Letter”. Registration in advance will not be accepted.
5. All original documents such as graduation certificates, language proficiency certificate, etc. will be checked again at the time of registration. Those who fail to provide original documents or fail the certificate verification will have admission canceled.
6. GDUFE will start the review and recommendation procedures for scholarship and Freshmen fund in September upon successful registration.
VII. Tuition fee, scholarship and other fees
1. Application Fee: 500 yuan
2. Tuition Fee: 30,000 yuan/year (it should be paid by year)
Account number: 714657755062
Opening bank: Guangzhou Xingangzhonglu Branch, Bank of China
Account name: Guangdong University of Finance and Economics
3. Scholarship and Allowances
(1) Guangdong Government Outstanding International Student Scholarship isavailable for outstanding PhD students. The amount is 30,000 yuan/year. The scholarship can be applied every year, but tuition fee will not be deducted directly.
(2) 2025 Freshmen Fund:40,000 yuan for the first year, subsidized by month. It’s not cumulative with Guangdong Government Outstanding International Student Scholarship. If students win 2025 Guangdong Government Outstanding International Student Scholarship, they can get freshmen fund of 10,000 yuan. Tuition fee will not be deducted directly.
(3) Academic Scholarship: All doctoral students will be awarded 10,000 yuan/person/year.
(4) Supervisor Allowance: Doctoral supervisors provide an annual allowance of no less than 12,000 yuan (subsidized by month, ie. 1,000 yuan/month) for their international doctoral students, which is used for scientific research or academic exchanges.
4. Accommodation and Insurance
(1) Accommodation:On-campus accommodation is limited, and accommodation reservation operates on a “first come, first served” basis :
☆ Single room: 12,000 yuan /year (about 1,700 US dollars) – charged water, electricity, boiled drinking water and hot bathing water.
☆ Twin room: 6,000 yuan /year (about 850 US dollars) – charged water, electricity, boiled drinking water and hot bathing water.
(2) Insurance: 800 yuan/year (The coverage includes accidents and disease medical treatment, hospitalization medical treatment). International students should purchase “Comprehensive Insurance for Foreigners Studying in China” under the guidance of GDUFE Office of International Exchange and Cooperation and submit insurance policy on registration day. Those who do not purchase the insurance as required will not be able to get registered.
VIII. Study plan with graduation requirements
Please check the website:
IX. Contact us
Contact person: Emma Shi
Tel: +86 2084096080
E-mail: fao3@gdufe.edu.cn
Add: Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, Guangdong University of Finance & Economics, No.21 Luntou Road, Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong, 510320, P. R.China
Website: http://english.gdufe.edu.cn/
Application system: gdufe.at0086.cn/student
Attachments:
Attachment 1-广东财经大学国际学生入学申请表 Application Form for GDUFE Admission.docx
Attachment 2 international Student Resume (Sample).doc
Attachment 3-财产担保 Statement of Financial Support.docx
