Ministry of Education Study Abroad Service Center
Chapter 1 General Provisions
Article 1: In order to standardize the activities of foreign academic degree certification, implement study abroad policies, promote international exchange and cooperation in education, fulfill social responsibilities, meet the needs of applicants for further education, employment, exams, etc., and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of applicants, these Measures are formulated in accordance with Chinese laws, regulations, relevant provisions, and relevant international treaties and agreements.

Article 2: The certification of foreign academic degrees (referred to as "certification") referred to in these Measures refers to the professional and technical recognition and explanation of the legality, authenticity, and corresponding relationship between foreign higher education academic degree certificates and corresponding academic degrees in China by the Study Abroad Service Center of the Ministry of Education (referred to as "Study Abroad Service Center") based on the applicant's independent application and in accordance with these Measures and service agreements.

The applicant referred to in these measures refers to a natural person who holds a foreign academic degree certificate and independently applies for certification to the service center in their own name.

The foreign academic degree certificate (referred to as "certificate") referred to in these Measures refers to the higher education degree certificate, academic degree certificate, or other academic certificate with degree effect defined by international conventions, agreements, and relevant laws and regulations of the country (region) to which the certificate belongs, which are concluded or participated in according to the laws, regulations, and relevant provisions of China.

The service center shall sign a service agreement (referred to as the "Service Agreement") for overseas academic degree certification with the applicant based on the principle of equality and voluntariness.

Article 3: When conducting certification activities, the Service Center for Scholarly Exchange shall fully implement the Party's education policy, safeguard national education sovereignty, maintain the national academic degree system, practice the strategy of building a strong talent country, serve the development plan of the national education industry, promote education opening up to the outside world, enhance the international influence of China's education, implement the study abroad work policy of "supporting study abroad, encouraging return to China, freedom of movement, and playing a role", promote international talent cultivation and exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign education.

Article 4: When conducting certification activities, the service center shall comply with laws, regulations, rules, and relevant provisions, follow national policies, adhere to the principles of objectivity, independence, fairness, and impartiality, and uphold scientific, standardized, and systematic professional methods.

Article 5: The service center shall carry out certification activities in accordance with the certification standards. The formulation of certification standards should be based on national conditions and international practices, with Chinese laws, regulations, rules, and relevant provisions as the basis, bilateral and multilateral treaties, agreements, and other documents with treaty and agreement nature as the criteria, and based on the higher education degree system, qualification framework, and quality assurance mechanism of China and relevant countries (regions), fully considering the differences in higher education systems of various countries (regions).

Article 6: Apart from conducting certification activities, the Service Center shall not create new rights and obligations for applicants, nor shall it be held responsible for the use of certification results by applicants. All consequences arising from the applicant providing false, illegal, invalid, insufficient, or inaccurate materials (information) shall be borne by the applicant themselves. If the certification authority, educational institution, or third-party verification institution provides incorrect information that affects the certification results, and the service center fulfills its obligation to review and verify, it shall not be held responsible, but shall promptly correct it.

Article 7: Applicants applying for certification shall comply with legal provisions, these Measures, and other relevant regulations, sign service agreements, and follow the principle of good faith; Real, legal, effective, sufficient, and accurate materials (information) should be provided to the detention center; The authentication results should be used legally and reasonably.

Article 8: If the applicant provides false materials (information) during the certification or review period, the service center may publicly announce it and suspend the certification services for a specific period of time.

Article 9: The detention center shall respect and protect the personal information of applicants in accordance with the law. If an organization authorized by state organs or laws and regulations to manage public affairs requests the service center to provide personal information in accordance with the law in order to fulfill its statutory duties, the service center shall provide it.

Article 10: The service center may accept clues or information provided by the public to optimize service quality and improve authentication level.

Article 11: On the basis of carrying out certification activities, the Service Center may provide consulting services to state organs, enterprises and institutions, and timely disclose data and information related to certification to the public.

Article 12: The materials (information) submitted by the applicant, as well as other materials (information) obtained by the detention center during the authentication or review process, shall belong to the detention center and be managed by it.

Chapter 2 Certification Application and Acceptance
Article 13: The applicant shall submit their authentication application in the online service hall of the detention center; Minors who submit applications shall entrust their legal representatives in writing to handle the application.

Applicants should carefully read and sign the service agreement, be aware of their rights and obligations, breach of contract responsibilities, and the consequences of providing false materials (information).

The applicant shall authorize the service center in writing to use their personal information and data, and allow the service center to verify certification related matters with certificate issuing agencies, educational institutions, or third-party verification agencies; Written authorization certificate issuing institutions, educational institutions, or third-party verification institutions shall disclose relevant information, records, and other necessary materials to the service center regarding the verification content.

The service center shall fully inform the applicant of the possible breach of contract liability and the consequences of providing false materials (information) in the service agreement.

Article 14: The detention center implements a one certificate one authentication system. If applying for certification of two or more certificates, the applicant shall submit the corresponding number of certification applications. If a certificate contains multiple degrees, the applicant should apply for certification based on one certificate, and the service center will issue a certification result.

Article 15: The Service Center shall publish a list of authentication application materials through the online service hall. The applicant shall submit relevant application materials as required. After submitting the certification application, the applicant shall not change the application materials, modify the application information, or withdraw the application.

If the service center considers that the application materials provided by the applicant are insufficient, incomplete, or have doubts, it may require the applicant to provide explanations or supplementary evidence within 7 working days.

Article 16: The applicant's personal identity information shall be consistent with the information contained in the certificate. If the information is inconsistent due to special reasons such as changes in the applicant's identity information or errors in the certificate issuing agency information, the service center may require the applicant to provide explanations or supplementary proof.

Article 17: The applicant shall verify their identity through information verification, real name authentication, real person authentication, and other identification methods; When necessary, the detention center may require the submission of verification conclusions for other measures, including fingerprint input, handwriting identification, synchronous audio and video recording, etc.

Article 18: After receiving the authentication application, the service center shall issue a confirmation notice to the applicant, informing them of the method for checking the authentication progress.

Article 19: If the applicant meets the following conditions, the detention center shall accept their authentication application:

（1） The submitted certificate belongs to the foreign academic degree certificate referred to in Article 2, paragraph 3 of these Measures;

（2） The submitted application materials are complete;

（3） Identity verification is correct;

（4） Voluntarily sign service agreements and authorization letters;

（5） The certification service fee has been paid.

Article 20: After receiving a certification application, if the service center discovers the following situations, it shall issue a notice of non acceptance to the applicant and explain the reasons:

（1） Apply for certification of diplomas at non higher education levels such as secondary school diplomas;

（2） Apply for certification of the completion certificate obtained from participating in foreign language training or pursuing other non degree education courses;

（3） Proof of research experience and postdoctoral research for certified continuing education personnel and visiting scholars;

（4） Application for certification of pre university certificates issued by foreign higher education institutions or other higher education institutions;

（5） Apply for certification of overseas honorary titles, as well as honorary degree certificates without corresponding learning or research experience;

（6） Apply for certification of various types of professional qualification certificates outside the country (territory);

（7） The certificate applied for certification does not fall under other circumstances of foreign academic degree certificates referred to in Article 2, paragraph 3 of these Measures;

（8） The applicant has not passed the identity verification;

（9） The applicant failed to provide the required application materials;

（10） The applicant repeatedly submits certification applications without valid reasons;

（11） Other situations that should not be accepted.

Article 21: If an applicant falls under any of the following circumstances and does not hold a certificate, but has a genuine learning process and has been awarded a foreign academic degree, they may submit an application for certification to the Service Center with relevant supporting documents; If the service center verifies that the situation is true, it can accept certification:

（1） Lost certificate;

（2） Refugees and displaced persons are unable to submit certificates;

（3） Due to force majeure, the certificate cannot be submitted during the application process;

（4） According to the laws or relevant regulations of the country (region) to which it belongs, the degree certificate and certificate have the same legal effect;

（5） Other special reasons prevent the applicant from submitting the certificate, but it meets the relevant certification standards.

Article 22: If the applicant needs to terminate the certification due to special reasons after the application is accepted, the Service Center may allow the termination, except for those who have already initiated verification with the certificate issuing institution, educational institution, or other institutions, or if the applicant has the possibility of providing false materials (information).

Article 23: The service center shall issue the authentication result to the applicant within 10-20 working days after accepting the authentication application. Due to force majeure, overseas statutory holidays, or supplementary proof materials, the required time is not included in the deadline. If the certification period needs to be extended due to special reasons, the service center shall notify the applicant.

Due to differences in verification channels, the time required for diploma certification varies in different countries (regions). The service center will publish relevant information in the online service hall.

Article 24: The applicant shall pay the certification service fee in accordance with the service agreement. The additional third-party fees incurred during the verification process must be paid directly by the applicant to the third party.

If the applicant provides false materials (information) resulting in non certification, the certification fee will not be refunded.

The charging standards for certification service fees shall be implemented by the service center in accordance with the relevant regulations of the national price control department. The service center has announced the refund method in the online service hall.

Chapter 3 Certification Verification and Recognition
Article 25: When conducting certification activities, the detention center shall independently make professional judgments based on the materials (information) provided by the applicant and the specific circumstances.

Article 26: The detention center shall verify and determine the following matters:

（1） The authenticity of the certificate;

（2） The qualifications and legality of certificate issuing institutions and educational institutions;

（3） The recognition status of the certificate in the country (region) to which it belongs;

（4） Quality assurance of certificate related courses;

（5） The degree level of the certificate in the country (region) it belongs to and its corresponding relationship with the degree level in China;

（6） The applicant's learning experience related to the certificate.

When necessary, the detention center can also verify and determine the following matters:

（1） The differences in course offerings and certification requirements related to certificates compared to international and domestic degrees of the same type;

（2） Other elements or information related to authentication.

Article 27: The detention center may take some or all of the following measures to complete relevant verification and identification work:

（1） Request the applicant to provide explanations or supplementary supporting materials;

（2） Consulting, verifying, and collecting relevant certification materials from certificate issuing agencies, educational institutions, or third-party verification agencies;

（3） Search for domestic and foreign laws, regulations, rules, relevant provisions, international conventions, as well as relevant regulations and standards related to the higher education qualification framework of the countries (regions) involved;

（4） Retrieve authoritative information released by relevant national (regional) regulatory authorities;

（5） Obtain supplementary information through international organizations, industry associations, civil society organizations, credit institutions, think tanks, and other channels;

（6） Communicate with relevant policy-making agencies or professional organizations;

（7） Seeking opinions from experts in relevant fields;

（8） Refer to past practices and experience;

（9） Other necessary measures.

Article 28: If an application for certification falls under the following circumstances, the Service Center may initiate relevant procedures to strengthen the examination, requiring the applicant, certificate issuing institution or educational institution, and their affiliated (in) country (region) quality assurance institutions, education authorities, etc. to assist in providing relevant materials (information), while extending the certification period:

（1） There are differences in the curriculum and certification requirements compared to international and domestic degrees of the same type;

（2） The service center has received clues from the public regarding issues with relevant universities or courses;

（3） Abnormal certification data for relevant universities or courses;

（4） There are situations that are inconsistent with the current laws, regulations, policies, and provisions of our country;

（5） Other situations that require the initiation of strengthened review procedures.

Article 29: For the situations listed in Article 28 of these Measures, if the applicant fails to pass the certification, after the certificate issuing institution or educational institution voluntarily assumes corresponding responsibilities and recovers the adverse effects, the service center may, at its discretion, conduct further verification and recognition of the relevant case.

Article 30: If sufficient and accurate evidence or information is still not obtained after verification by the expiration of the certification period, the service center may make a judgment and issue corresponding certification results. After the certification results are issued, the service center should continue to track and verify.

Chapter 4 Certification Results
Article 31: The detention center shall issue the following types of authentication results based on the evidence and information obtained after verification and identification:

（1） Certification certificate;

（2） Notice of temporary non authentication;

（3） Notice of non authentication;

（4） Other forms of authentication results.

The authentication results can be checked in the online service hall of the service center.

Article 32: The certification results shall come into effect from the date of issuance.

After the certification result is issued, the certification process is terminated. If there are any objections to the certification results, the applicant can apply for a review or reapply for certification based on new materials or new circumstances.

Each certification result issued by the service center is unique and cannot be used as a basis for other certification applications.

Article 33: If the certificate submitted by the applicant is verified and deemed to meet the certification standards, the service center shall issue a certification certificate to the applicant.

The certification should generally include the following contents:

（1） Certification number;

（2） Personal information of the applicant;

（3） The name and qualifications of the certificate issuing institution, as well as the legality of Sino foreign cooperative education institutions or projects;

（4） Academic degree name;

（5） Awarding time;

（6） Educational and degree levels;

（7） Educational description;

（8） Seal of the service center;

（9） Date of issuance;

（10） Other necessary content.

Article 34: The Chinese and foreign names of the certificate issuing institution and the names of academic degrees used in the certification shall be determined by the Service Center. When necessary, the detention center can provide explanations.

Establish and maintain a database of Chinese and foreign names, as well as academic degrees and diplomas, for overseas higher education institutions, and use it in certification documents based on the principles of accuracy and consistency.

Article 35: The Service Center may provide a realistic description of the applicant's professional field during their study abroad period in the certification letter based on the materials (information) provided by the applicant, which conforms to the classification of higher education disciplines in the country (region) to which they belong.

Article 36: The service center may determine the corresponding relationship between foreign academic degrees and Chinese academic degrees based on certification standards. If it is not possible to correspond with the level of education and degree in our country, it can be matched with the same type of education and degree in the country where the certificate issuing institution belongs. If it is not possible to achieve corresponding results, the service center can only provide realistic descriptions.

Article 37: If the applicant has completed the courses specified in the teaching plan, passed the assessment and obtained a foreign academic degree, and has been verified and recognized as meeting the certification standards, the service center shall indicate in the certification letter that they have the corresponding academic degree.

Article 38: In any of the following circumstances, the detention center shall not issue a certification letter to the applicant, but shall explain the reasons:

（1） The applicant has provided false materials (information);

（2） The certificate does not meet the relevant certification standards of the service center;

（3） The certificate issuing institution and the educational institution do not meet the relevant certification standards of the detention center;

（4） The quality assurance of the relevant courses does not meet the certification standards of the detention center;

（5） Belonging to the circumstances listed in Article 28 of these Measures, the strengthened review has not been passed;

（6） A significant proportion of the reduced credits (hours) come from domestic learning experience, and the source needs to be confirmed;

（7） The applicant's learning experience related to the certificate involves institutions without educational qualifications;

（8） The certificate and its related learning process are in clear conflict with the current laws, mutual recognition agreements, or relevant regulations of the country or our country;

（9） The applicant refuses or fails to provide additional supporting materials within the deadline;

（10） The proof materials submitted by the applicant are insufficient;

（11） At the end of the certification period, the information held by the service center is still insufficient to make a judgment;

（12） According to Article 22 of these Measures, certification can be terminated;

（13） The certificate has been revoked by the certificate issuing authority;

（14） Due to force majeure, unexpected events, or other insurmountable obstacles, certification cannot be carried out;

（15） Other situations where authentication is temporarily not possible.

Article 39: If a certificate issuing institution or educational institution refuses to explain to the service center in any of the following circumstances, resulting in the inability to continue certification, the service center may issue a temporary non certification notice to the applicant, but shall explain the reasons:

（1） Refusal to cooperate or obstruct the verification requirements of the detention center without reason;

（2） Intentionally concealing or providing conflicting, untrue, or inaccurate information;

（3） The existence of the situation described in Article 28 of these Measures has caused significant negative impacts on the operation of the school;

（4） Manufacturing and disseminating false information.

If the certificate issuing institution or educational institution actively establishes effective communication with the service center to correct the above-mentioned behavior, the service center shall restore the certification process.

Article 40: If the applicant is unable to submit the application materials as required due to force majeure such as war or natural disasters, the detention center may understand and timely announce the temporary application measures.

Article 41: After the certification result is issued, the detention center may still organize a re examination or follow-up verification, and make a decision to modify the content or type of the original certification result based on new circumstances and evidence. The revised new certification result shall be notified to the applicant.

The service center retains all modification records of authentication results and makes them available for inquiry.

The certification obtained by the applicant through fabrication, concealment of facts, or provision of false materials (information) is invalid from the beginning.

Article 42: The Service Center shall issue only one certification for the same certificate obtained by the applicant through the same learning experience (including the situations listed in Article 21 of these Measures). If the applicant repeatedly submits the certification application for any reason, the service center may issue a new certification certificate if necessary, and the original certification certificate will automatically become invalid.

Chapter 5 Review
Article 43: The term 'review' referred to in these Measures refers to the process in which the service center conducts further verification and recognition of certification applications that have already issued certification results.

Article 44: If the applicant has objections to the certification results, they may apply for a review to the detention center within 12 months from the date of issuance of the certification results.

Review can only be applied for once. The service center does not charge any review fees.

Article 45: The applicant shall submit a review application through the online service hall of the detention center. Submitting a review application must state the reasons for the review, clarify specific demands, and provide relevant supporting materials.

Article 46: The review period shall not affect the validity and execution of the original certification results.

Article 47: The review period required by the detention center shall be the same as the corresponding certification period. The specific deadline shall refer to the relevant content of Article 23 of these Measures.

Article 48: The detention center may make a review decision based on the materials (information) provided by the applicant, independently verified facts, etc., and notify the applicant.

Article 49: If the applicant disagrees with the review decision of the detention center, they may file a lawsuit with the people's court at the domicile of the detention center.

During the litigation period, relevant decisions shall not be changed except for court rulings or judgments.

Chapter 6: Handling of Applicants Providing False Materials (Information)
Article 50: The act of providing false materials (information) referred to in these Measures refers to the applicant's violation of these Measures and service agreements during the authentication application or review process by providing false foreign academic degree certificates or other false materials or information.

Article 51: If an applicant provides false materials (information) that fall under any of the following circumstances, it shall be considered a serious circumstance:

（1） Providing forged, altered, or traded certificates (including those listed in Article 21 of these Measures) without obtaining foreign academic degree certificates;

（2） Providing false passports, passes, travel permits, or other identity documents, as well as entry and exit records, can affect the judgment of their personal identity information or the true learning process.

Article 52: If the applicant provides false materials (information), the detention center shall issue a notice of non authentication and inform the specific reasons, basis, processing decision, and the applicant's right to file a review application in the non authentication notice.

Article 53: If the applicant disagrees with the result of non certification, they may file a review application in accordance with the relevant content of Chapter 5 of these Measures.

If the applicant files a review application within 10 working days (including) from the date of issuance of the non certification notice, the review period will not be publicly announced temporarily; If the applicant has already been publicly announced when submitting the review application, the public announcement shall not be suspended during the review period. The detention center may decide to maintain or suspend the relevant processing based on the review results.

Article 54: If the applicant provides false materials (information), the detention center shall include the applicant in the public list on the 11th working day (inclusive) from the date of issuance of the non authentication notice. The publicity period is within one year from the date of inclusion in the public list; If the applicant provides false materials (information) and the circumstances are serious, the public notice period shall be within 3 years from the date of inclusion in the public notice list. During the public notice period, the service center will temporarily not accept any authentication applications submitted by applicants, except for other applications currently being processed by applicants. After the public notice period expires, the service center can accept their certification application, but can extend the certification period according to verification needs.

If the applicant is a minor at the time of making the certification result, it shall not be disclosed.

Article 55: If the applicant provides false materials (information) and causes serious consequences or adverse effects, or provides multiple false materials (information) or repeatedly provides false materials (information), the detention center may decide to extend the public notice period by 1 to 2 years and notify the applicant.

If the applicant falls under the circumstances mentioned in the preceding paragraph and is suspected of constituting a serious illegal or criminal act, the detention center shall transfer them to relevant departments and cooperate with the investigation.

Article 56: The Service Center for Scholarly Exchange shall publicize the relevant information on false materials (information) provided by applicants on China Study Abroad website, online service hall, etc., and keep a record of the publicity.

Article 57: Publicized information shall be objective and accurate, and may include:

（1） Name, date of birth, certification result number;

（2） The specific circumstances of providing false materials (information);

（3） The expiration date of the public notice period;

（4） Other matters that the detention center deems necessary to disclose and do not involve personal privacy.

Article 58: The detention center shall update the public information in a timely manner. If the public information is inaccurate or should be deleted, the service center shall make changes within 3 working days after confirmation.

Article 59: If the applicant meets one of the following conditions, the detention center shall stop publicizing within 3 working days after verification:

（1） The public notice period has expired;

（2） If the applicant dies, their relatives and friends shall submit a written application to the detention center to stop the public announcement;

（3） Provide sufficient evidence to prove that one was not aware of someone else's fraudulent application for certification, and should not bear the consequences of providing false materials (information);

（4） The applicant files a lawsuit, and the court rules or orders the suspension of public disclosure;

（5） According to their functions or applications, it is found that providing false materials (information) does not constitute a behavior;

（6） The laws, regulations, rules, and relevant provisions that serve as the basis for processing false materials (information) have subsequently changed and are no longer necessary for processing;

（7） It does not belong to the serious situation of providing false materials (information), and the applicant actively corrects and eliminates the adverse effects. After being determined by the detention center, there is no need for further processing.

Article 60: If the applicant's provision of false materials (information) does not constitute a serious circumstance, they may submit a written application to the detention center to stop the public disclosure and submit relevant supporting materials. The detention center shall make a decision and notify the applicant within 20 working days from the date of receipt of the application.

Chapter 7 Supplementary Provisions
Article 61: The real name authentication referred to in these Measures refers to the nationwide unified identity authentication service provided by the national government service platform based on national authentication resources such as natural person identity information and legal entity information.

The real person authentication referred to in these measures refers to the consistency verification of the portrait information of the holders of entry and exit documents provided by the National Immigration Administration.

The country (region) referred to in these Measures refers to the administrative affiliation and registered country or region of the certificate issuing institution or educational institution; The country (place) where the certificate issuing institution or educational institution is located refers to the country or region where the institution operates.

The calculation method for "year" and "month" referred to in these measures is from the date of calculation to the first working day after the expiration of the deadline.

Article 62: The Service Center has the final interpretation right of these Measures and may supplement or explain them as needed for certification work.

Article 63: These Measures shall come into effect on January 28, 2023. Measures for the Accreditation and Evaluation of Academic Degrees and Qualifications Abroad

The Measures for Handling Counterfeit Application Materials for Overseas Academic Degree Certification (Trial) and the Measures for Publicizing Dishonest Behaviors in Overseas Academic Degree Certification are simultaneously abolished.

For relevant applications that have not yet been completed or are still in the review period at the time of the implementation of these measures, the original certification measures shall apply, except for those where the application of these measures is more beneficial to the applicant.