On 26 Apr. 2024, China’s legislature, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, passed the “Law of the People’s Republic of China on Academic Degrees”(中华人民共和国学位法, hereinafter the “Law”), which shall come into force on 1 Jan. 2025.
In 1980, China enacted its first education law, the “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Academic Degrees” (中华人民共和国学位条例, hereinafter the “Regulations”), which laid the foundation for the establishment of the academic degree system.
This time, the “Regulations” has been renamed the “Law” and comprehensively revised to regulate degree-granting activities, guarantee the quality of degrees, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of degree applicants.
The highlights of the Law are as follows.
- While adhering to the three-tier system of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, it specifies the types of degrees including academic degrees, professional degrees, and other types.
- It clarifies the conditions for obtaining degree-granting qualifications and the bodies and procedures for approval, and establishes a system of autonomous examination for the granting of master’s and doctoral degrees, thereby expanding the autonomy of degree-granting institutions.
- It authorizes the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council to set separate conditions and procedures for the establishment and organization of relevant disciplines and degree-granting institutions, emphasizing the orientation of strengthening the construction of basic disciplines, emerging disciplines, and interdisciplinary disciplines, and serving the needs of major national strategies.
Contributors: CJO Staff Contributors Team
