ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship 2025/2026

The ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship Program (ACYLS) is an initiative in response to the call of the Leaders of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and ASEAN Member States (AMS) to increase people-to-people exchanges, strengthen educational cooperation, and promote academic exchanges and linkages between AMS and the PRC, to foster a third pillar of socio-cultural and people-to-people exchanges within ASEAN-China relationship towards building a closer community of shared future. ACYLS is a dedicated project for ASEAN nationals, in particular young and promising professionals with working experience in ASEAN Member States. The Chinese government will provide funding for ACYLS mainly through the ASEAN-China Cooperation Fund (ACCF).

Eligibility for the ASEAN-China Young Leaders Scholarship:

• Applicants must be citizens of an ASEAN Member State (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).
• Candidates should be in sound physical and mental health and proficient in English (i.e., must possess an IELTS score of at least 6.0 or a TOEFL score of at least 80 points).
• Applicants must be holders of an undergraduate degree and under the age of 45 if applying for a master's degree and holders of a graduate/master's degree and under the age of 45 if applying for a PhD degree.
• Candidates should be holders of at least an undergraduate degree if applying for the short-term research program.
• Applicants should have at least one year of work experience within government agencies, public or private institutions, universities, think tanks, or similar social agencies, and preferably have experience in the following:
• • work related to foreign and international affairs, especially ASEAN and China-ASEAN affairs
  • work or study in the PRC
  • academic work on China or ASEAN-related affairs
• Candidates must not be concurrent awardees of a Chinese government scholarship and must meet other admission requirements of the Chinese universities to which the applicant has applied.

Documents required:

• Application Form for Chinese Government Scholarship (in English)
• A copy of your valid ordinary passport home page
• Notarized highest diploma
• Academic transcripts
• A Study Plan or Research Proposal (written in Chinese or English)
• Two Recommendation Letters (written in Chinese or English)
• Valid documents of your legal guardians in China (only required for applicants under the age of 18)
• Certificates of English language proficiency
• Foreigner Physical Examination Form
• A resume or CV including the educational background and working experience after high school
• Non-criminal record report.

Value of the Scholarship: 

• Tuition Fees
• Stipend
• Master's students: 4,000 RMB per month
• Doctoral students: 5,000 RMB per month
• Research scholar: 5,000 RMB per month
• One-time Settlement Fee
• International Round-trip Air Fare
• Accommodation
• Medical Insurance.

How to Apply:

The Applicants must send their applications to the ACYLS national focal points in each of their home countries. Before the deadline, faculty and staff from ASEAN universities applying through AUN and AUN Thematic Networks must submit their applications to the AUN Secretariat. Every year, the application usually opens in January and closes in March. Applicants should speak with the AUN Secretariat or ACYLS national focal points directly on the current year's application deadline.