Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School — guide for international students

Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School (北京大学深圳研究生院, PKU Shenzhen) was approved by the Ministry of Education in January 2001 and established that April, with the opening ceremony on 25 September 2001. Its English pages describe it as “the southern campus of Peking University”. The first academic year began in September 2002 with 213 students; the campus moved into the University Town of Shenzhen in September 2003 and held its first graduation in June 2005.

Two things matter most before you apply. First, PKU Shenzhen is a graduate education institution: its admissions overview lists master’s and Ph.D. degrees and nothing else — no bachelor’s programme, no foundation year, no undergraduate intake. Second, this is not a joint-venture university with a charter of its own. The school’s guidance states that graduates are conferred degrees by Peking University after the thesis defence and the approval of the Academic Degree Assessment Committee, and international applicants go through Peking University’s central International Students Division rather than a Shenzhen-only admissions body.

Nine schools operate on campus: Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chemical Biology & Biotechnology, Environment & Energy, Urban Planning & Design, Advanced Materials, AI for Science, the HSBC Business School (PHBS), the School of Transnational Law (STL) and Humanities & Social Sciences — though the school’s own Schools page still lists only eight and omits AI for Science, the newest of them.

The figures the school publishes about itself do not agree. The Chinese overview page gives 3,865 enrolled graduate students — 3,339 master’s and 526 doctoral — with 171 international students and 295 full-time faculty, on a campus of 260,700 square metres. The English overview page gives 3,864 full-time graduate students for 2024, of whom 467 are doctoral and “over 150” international; the English homepage counter gives 3,723 students and 273 faculty. Treat these as scale rather than an exact headcount. The postal address for every school on campus is No. 2199 Lishui Road, Xili, Nanshan District, Shenzhen 518055.

PKU Shenzhen admits international students to master’s and doctoral degrees only — no bachelor’s, foundation or undergraduate route. Everything runs through Peking University’s International Students Division: you register at studyatpku.com, choose PKU Shenzhen and a specific school, and pay Peking University’s fee of RMB 800 per program, to a maximum of two programs, non-refundable. For the 2026 intake the main window ran from 20 October 2025 to 23 December 2025 Beijing time, but four groups of programs had later deadlines: English-taught doctoral programs closed on 28 February 2026, the Juris Master (J.D. track) on 15 March 2026, and English-taught master’s programs together with the part-time MBA and EMBA on 31 March 2026. Selection is by application and assessment rather than a written entrance exam — the division checks eligibility, the school reviews your dossier, and a panel holds a second examination in March or April. Chinese-taught programs require HSK Level 6 with a total above 200 for science subjects or above 210 for humanities subjects, writing at least 65; HSK 7–9 results are accepted. For English-taught programs Peking University’s central 2026 notice asks for TOEFL iBT 100 or GRE 315, while the HSBC Business School’s own FAQ states IELTS 6.5 or TOEFL 90 and treats GRE as optional — the two official pages do not agree, so confirm with the school before booking a test. Neither states an age limit for degree applicants, although the Beijing Government Scholarship imposes one. Tuition is where the answer is uneven: exact annual fees are published for every HSBC Business School and School of Transnational Law program, but the science and engineering master’s and doctoral programs are listed as “TBD” on the school’s own majors table and Peking University’s central 2026 tuition schedule simply refers Shenzhen applicants back to that website — so for those programs you must email the school for the figure.

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 Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School 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.

Funding comes from three directions on three different calendars. Nationally, the Chinese Government Scholarship can be applied for through a Chinese embassy or consulate (Type A, whose requirements the embassy sets) or directly through Peking University (Type B, the Chinese University Program), which Peking University’s 2026 notice describes as covering tuition, free accommodation, a monthly stipend and comprehensive medical insurance. At university level, Peking University runs its own scheme, applied for in January to March after the degree application. At school level — where most awards actually sit — the HSBC Business School states in its FAQ that 64% of its admitted class receives a half or full tuition scholarship. One caveat worth reading twice: Peking University lists the Beijing Government Scholarship in its university-wide notice, but it is a Beijing municipal scheme and PKU Shenzhen students live and study in Shenzhen. The pages do not say whether Shenzhen-based students qualify, so ask before counting on it. Peking University does not print stipend amounts for the government or university schemes on its scholarship pages.

Research is why PKU Shenzhen exists as a campus rather than an outpost: it was set up to pair Peking University’s disciplinary depth with Shenzhen’s manufacturing and technology base, and it works to an explicitly applied brief. The school counts 67 research platforms, among them a state key laboratory jointly built by the province and the ministry, a national-level international joint research centre, a branch of a national engineering research centre, two ministry-level key laboratories, 11 Guangdong provincial innovation bases, 19 Shenzhen municipal key laboratories, 17 Shenzhen municipal engineering laboratories and centres, six public technology service platforms, a Shenzhen humanities and social sciences research base and a proof-of-concept centre. The Chinese overview page gives a different breakdown of the same estate — 15 Guangdong platforms, 11 Shenzhen key laboratories and three humanities bases — so read the totals as scale rather than an audited inventory. Named laboratories include the Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics and the Laboratory of Integrated Microsystems. In 2021 four of the campus’s disciplines were selected for Guangdong’s “Double First-Class” enhancement initiative. Much of the work is done with industry through joint university-enterprise R&D platforms; in September 2026 the school opened a joint laboratory on advanced storage and intelligent manufacturing with the integrated-circuit manufacturer Nexchip.

PKU Shenzhen was built to be the international-facing campus of Peking University, and the staffing shows it: 52 foreign experts and 117 Chinese faculty with overseas degrees, with students and staff from more than 40 countries. The international student body is small and concentrated — 171 international students on the Chinese overview page’s count, taught almost entirely in the HSBC Business School and the School of Transnational Law, which between them provide the campus’s English-taught degrees. Around 100 exchange students come through in a normal year, drawing on Peking University’s network of more than 400 partner universities, and the school runs 14 joint training projects across the environment, planning, materials, business and law schools.

Career outcomes are reported school by school rather than campus-wide, and the two English-teaching schools publish the clearest numbers. The HSBC Business School announced a 97.3% initial employment rate for its graduating class in September 2026 and counts 1,700 full-time master’s alumni across 64 countries. The School of Transnational Law reports a post-graduate placement rate of nearly 100% and has produced over 1,000 graduates since its first intake in 2008, with a Career Service Center running counselling, employer recruitment and alumni networking; it says graduates are recruited by multinational and leading Chinese law firms, corporations, major state-owned enterprises and international NGOs. Location does much of the work: the campus sits in Nanshan District at the centre of Shenzhen’s technology industry and about an hour from Hong Kong, which is why the science and engineering schools are built around joint R&D platforms with local manufacturers. Neither PKU Shenzhen nor its schools publish a named list of notable alumni on their English pages, so the one example below is the only individual the school itself names.

The campus is in the University Town of Shenzhen in Xili, Nanshan District, sharing the site and its facilities — including the University Town Library — with the Shenzhen campuses of other national universities; students also have access to the Peking University library system. Two semesters of about 18 weeks each are separated by roughly a month of winter holiday around Chinese New Year and about eight weeks of summer break from late June or early July to early September; the HSBC Business School and the School of Transnational Law run their own calendars. One genuinely useful benefit: PKU Shenzhen provides beginner, intermediate and advanced Chinese courses to its international students free of charge, the higher levels subject to enrolment. Medical insurance is compulsory for the whole period of study — the recommended Ping An plan covers accidental injury and hospitalisation but not outpatient care, and the School of Transnational Law budgets RMB 800 a year for it. Getting there: Xili Lake station on Metro Line 7, exit D, is about a kilometre away; University Town station on Line 5, exit C, about two kilometres; the M176 and the 128 express bus stop at Peking University Campus Station.

Accommodation

Dining

Meals in the campus dining halls cost between RMB 7 and RMB 25, paid with the campus card, which works in every University Town cafeteria and convenience store. There is a halal and kosher food counter on the second floor of the dining hall. The School of Transnational Law budgets about RMB 3,000 a month, or RMB 36,000 a year, for food, transport, books and incidentals for a student living on campus.

Facilities

Reach the International Affairs Office, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School — with degree applications handled by Peking University’s International Students Division in Beijing for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Shenzhen.