Hubei University of Economics — guide for international students

Hubei University of Economics (湖北经济学院, HBUE) was established in September 2002 with the approval of the Ministry of Education by merging three colleges — Hubei Business College (1990), Wuhan Finance College (1992) and the Hubei Institute of Planning Personnel Management (1984). The university traces its roots to 1907, when the late-Qing governor Zhang Zhidong founded the Hubei Business Middle School (rendered on another official page as Hubei Commercial College), which is why HBUE gives 1907 as its founding year.

It is a full-time provincial university run by Hubei Province rather than a national Double First-Class institution. HBUE describes itself as central China’s centre for training students in economics and management, with teaching also in the humanities, law, science, engineering and the arts, organised in schools such as Economics and Trade, Finance, Finance and Public Administration, Business Administration, Accountancy, Information Management and Statistics, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Law, Journalism and Communication, Foreign Languages, Information and Communication Engineering, Sports Economics and Management, Low-carbon Economics, and Arts and Design.

The single campus sits beside Tangxun Lake in the Canglongdao (Zanglong Island) Development Zone of Jiangxia District, in the southern part of Wuhan. The university’s ‘HBUE at a Glance’ page gives 16,976 undergraduates, 775 postgraduates, 1,070 full-time teachers (51.96% with doctorates) and 62 undergraduate programs, 13 of them national first-class programs. An older Facts & Figures page (updated June 2022) gives smaller numbers — 15,958 undergraduates, 549 graduate students, 57 undergraduate specialties and 31 international students — so treat the Glance figures as the more recent.

International students are a small community here. According to the School of International Education, HBUE ran an English-taught international economics and trade program for international students from 2016 to 2019 and an international business program from 2019, and had trained 84 international degree students from countries including Japan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and several African countries; the university’s International page puts the total recruited since 2016 at more than 144. The English admission pages cap the 2024–2025 English-taught intake at 40 students.

HBUE admits international students to English-taught bachelor’s degrees and to non-degree Chinese-language and visiting study. Its English pages list no master’s or doctoral programs for international students, so if you want a postgraduate degree, ask the admissions office before applying. Applications go through the online system at hbue.at0086.cn. The published entry conditions are: graduation from high school or above, age 18 to 25, good physical and mental health, and scores of at least 80 in English (or English as a native language) and at least 70 in mathematics. You also need a family bank-deposit certificate showing a balance of more than RMB 20,000. The university reviews materials, holds remote interviews where needed, and — after verification by the Ministry of Education — sends admitted students an admission letter and a JW202 form for the X1 study visa, which must be converted into a residence permit within 30 days of arrival. Be aware that the application page on the English site still shows the deadline of an earlier intake, and HBUE has not published a 2026 international admission notice on its English or School of International Education pages; confirm the current application window with interadmission@hbue.edu.cn before you apply.

Degree programs

Select a degree level to see tuition, duration and entry requirements.

Non-degree programs

Documents to prepare

Application timeline

These are the dates Hubei University of Economics published for the 2026 intake. That cycle has closed. Use them as a guide to when each step falls in the year, and check the official pages for the 2027 dates before you plan around them.

The only scholarships HBUE publishes for international students are its own: a tuition waiver and a one-off freshman award. Both are evaluated and awarded in October each year and are available only for the first three years of study. The university’s English pages do not list Chinese Government Scholarship (CSC) channels or the Hubei Provincial Government Scholarship, so if you hope to use one of those schemes, ask the admissions office whether HBUE accepts it before applying.

Research at HBUE is applied and regional, concentrated on finance, logistics, taxation, water affairs and low-carbon development in Hubei Province. The university lists six provincial key research bases on its English Research page, alongside university-level centres such as the Innovation Center for Carbon Emission Permits Trading and the Hubei Data and Analysis Center, and some 29 research centres across its schools. The HBUE at a Glance page counts one branch of a national collaborative innovation centre, one provincial collaborative innovation centre, seven provincial key research bases and 14 research organisations run jointly with government departments. The School of Low-carbon Economics reflects the university’s work on carbon trading, and the annual Yangtze River Economic Belt Development Strategy Forum is held at HBUE.

HBUE’s international work runs mainly through the School of International Education, founded in 2005, which manages both international-student admission and China–foreign joint programs for Chinese students. The university’s International page reports agreements with more than 60 universities and research institutions in over 30 countries and regions and says more than 200 HBUE students go abroad each year on exchange; the HBUE at a Glance page gives a narrower count of 40+ universities in 10+ countries. Past and current joint programs include Sino-French programs with Clermont-Ferrand I and Grenoble 2 (2004–2010), a Sino-Australian program with Swinburne University of Technology (2011–2015), a Sino-American program in information management and information systems with Auburn University at Montgomery (since 2013) and a Sino-Italian program in environmental design with the Accademia di Belle Arti G.B. Tiepolo (since 2022).

HBUE publishes no employment or placement statistics for international graduates. Its English-taught programs are designed with careers in mind — the International Economics and Trade page points to international trade departments and international companies, and the E-Commerce page to cross-border e-commerce operations in enterprises and government agencies — and the university reports more than 240 internship and training bases. Ask the School of International Education what internship support is available to international students, as the English site has no careers page of its own for them.

HBUE’s campus of about 1.46 km² lies next to Tangxun Lake in Jiangxia District, southern Wuhan, a green campus of lakes, trees and lawns with a stadium, swimming pools, sports courts and a library. International students live together in the Foreign Students Building, in suites of four rooms and a shared hall. On arrival the School of International Education walks new students through a fixed sequence: presenting the admission notice, paying fees, dormitory check-in and signing the International Student Undertaking, police accommodation registration, a health check at the Hubei exit-entry inspection and quarantine bureau, enrolment and insurance, a student card, and finally the residence permit at the Wuhan Public Security Bureau. Airport pick-up is available to admitted students who email the pick-up form to interadmission@hbue.edu.cn with their flight number, Beijing arrival time, name, program, passport and admission letter.

Accommodation

Dining

Meals are available at the campus cafeteria at your own cost, and the two shared kitchens in the Foreign Students Building let you cook for yourself.

Facilities

Reach the School of International Education (国际教育学院), Hubei University of Economics — international student admissions for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Wuhan.