Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine — guide for international students

Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (上海中医药大学) was established in 1956 and describes itself as one of the first four higher-education institutions of Chinese medicine founded in the People’s Republic of China. The Shanghai Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, set up in 1985, now operates jointly with the university. SHUTCM is co-built by the Ministry of Education, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Shanghai Municipal Government, and is both a national "Double First-Class" university and a Shanghai key high-level university.

The main campus is in the core of Zhangjiang Science City in Pudong New Area, at 1200 Cailun Road. The university’s Chinese-language introduction gives its area as more than 500 mu, and the International Education College’s English University Overview page gives 35 hectares — the same order of size expressed in two units. Some short courses use Puxi addresses instead, so check which address your program uses.

According to the university’s own introduction (updated August 2026), SHUTCM has nearly 10,000 full-time students, of whom 3,039 are international students — 1,525 on degree programs and 1,514 on short-term study — and more than 1,300 staff, including 3 academicians and 3 National Medical Masters. Its two Double First-Class disciplines are Chinese Medicine and Chinese Materia Medica. Clinical teaching runs through 10 affiliated hospitals with about 8,654 beds, three of them directly affiliated: Longhua, Shuguang and Yueyang hospitals.

SHUTCM admits international students to bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees, all administered by the International Education College and applied for online at apply.shutcm.edu.cn. For 2026 there are four official guides: Chinese-taught undergraduate, English-taught acupuncture bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral. Two rules shape undergraduate admission. First, every undergraduate applicant must pass the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA, www.csca.cn) and submit the result by 30 June 2026; which subjects you sit depends on the major (see the bachelor’s requirements below). Second, the Chinese-taught guide states that applicants with colour weakness or colour blindness are not suited to apply, and sets vision, hearing, smell and speech standards. Postgraduate applicants face a different gate: before interview, every master’s and doctoral applicant must pass a written summary test sent to the prospective supervisor by 15 April 2026, and must have the supervisor’s consent. Age limits are unusually generous but not uniform: the Chinese-taught undergraduate guide says applicants are "generally 18 or older", the English-taught acupuncture guide sets under 60, and the master’s and doctoral prospectuses set under 65, each allowing exceptions — while the Shanghai Government Scholarship sets much tighter limits (25, 35 and 40).

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 Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 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.

SHUTCM’s scholarship summary for full-time international students lists four layers: Chinese Government (CSC) scholarships, the International Chinese Language Teachers Scholarship, the Shanghai Government Scholarship, and a set of university and enterprise awards. Government awards cannot be combined with municipal or university awards, and Type A and Type B within the same scheme are mutually exclusive. Most awards are reviewed annually. For undergraduate applicants, the Chinese-taught guide states that all scholarships require a pass in the CSCA. Two official pages give different windows for the Shanghai Government Scholarship — January to May for Type A on the scholarship summary, and 1 January to 30 June 2026 on the 2026 guidelines page — so apply by the earlier date.

SHUTCM’s research is built around Chinese medicine and its integration with modern science: the Double First-Class disciplines of Chinese Medicine and Chinese Materia Medica, and Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, which Shanghai supports as a priority discipline. The university introduction (updated August 2026) counts 4 national-level research platforms and 14 major provincial or ministerial platforms, 78,000 square metres of laboratory space and research equipment worth more than RMB 500 million. The International Education College’s overview page names two academicians on the faculty, Prof. Chen Kaixian of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Hu Zhibi of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

According to the university introduction (updated August 2026), SHUTCM cooperates with about 80 institutions in 30 countries and regions, and runs 6 overseas TCM centres, 2 Tai Chi health centres and 3 Tai Chi practice bases. The English site’s International Cooperation page lists a shorter set of named partners — 22 institutions in Asia, Europe and the Americas — and appears to be older than the August 2026 figure, so use the university introduction for totals. The English site also has a dedicated section on its work with the World Health Organization.

Graduates of SHUTCM’s medical degrees train clinically through the affiliated hospitals, but the university does not publish employment or salary figures for its international graduates on its English pages, so treat any outcome statistic you see elsewhere as unsourced. Practising Chinese medicine or acupuncture outside China depends on the licensing rules of your own country — check whether a SHUTCM degree qualifies you there before you enrol.

SHUTCM’s main campus sits in Zhangjiang Science City, Pudong — a high-tech park rather than central Shanghai. The International Education College keeps its admissions office there (Room 230) and a second office in Puxi, at 530 Lingling Road, Xuhui District. On-campus accommodation is available to international students, but the university’s 2026 guides do not print the rates in the main text: they refer to an attachment of current dormitory prices marked "for reference only", and the postgraduate prospectuses say the accommodation fee notice is sent in mid-July. Living off campus is allowed at your own expense with the university’s approval.

Accommodation

Dining

SHUTCM does not publish canteen locations or meal prices for international students on its English pages — budget for food separately and ask on arrival.

Facilities

Reach the Admissions Office, International Education College, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Room 230) for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Shanghai.