Xi'an Shiyou University — guide for international students

Xi’an Shiyou University (西安石油大学) — the name means Xi’an Petroleum University, and the College of International Education’s own site still uses that translation in places — was founded in October 1951 as the Northwest Petroleum Technical College and became the Xi’an Petroleum Institute in 1958 before taking its present name. It is a multidisciplinary university with a distinct petroleum and petrochemical character, co-constructed by China’s three major petroleum companies (CNPC, SINOPEC and CNOOC) and the People’s Government of Shaanxi Province. It is not in the national Double First-Class list; the 2026 brochure describes it as a Shaanxi provincial "Double First-Class" cultivation university and a high-level university construction institution, and as a university in the national "14th Five-Year Plan for Education Power Promotion Project".

The university has three campuses in Xi’an — Yanta, Mingde and Huyi (鄠邑) — covering 2,078 mu in total. The College of International Education and the admissions address are on Dianzi 2nd Road in Yanta District, but international students’ dormitories are on the Mingde and Huyi campuses, and the two are priced very differently (see Campus life). Teaching spans nine disciplinary categories — science, engineering, economics, management, literature, law, education and art among them — with 3 first-level disciplines authorised for doctoral degrees, 18 first-level disciplines authorised for master’s degrees, 15 professional master’s degree categories and 55 undergraduate majors.

Two official pages give different faculty figures, so quote the one you need with its source. The 2026 brochure states more than 2,000 faculty members, over 1,380 full-time teachers, more than 750 with senior professional titles, over 770 doctoral and master’s supervisors and more than 900 teachers with doctoral degrees; the university’s English Brief Introduction gives over 1,350 full-time teachers, over 700 senior titles, more than 690 supervisors and over 870 teachers with doctorates. The same introduction puts current enrolment at more than 18,000 undergraduates, more than 5,400 master’s and doctoral students and over 1,000 international students. XSYU has enrolled international students since 1966; the 2026 brochure and the College of International Education page count more than 10,000 alumni from 95 countries and regions, while the English Brief Introduction says 93 countries.

XSYU admits international students to bachelor’s (4 years), master’s (3 years) and doctoral (4 years) degrees, all described in one 2026 degree brochure published by the College of International Education in English and in Chinese. Every application — scholarship or self-funded — is made online on the XSYU platform at xsyu.at0086.cn/student; nothing is posted. Chinese Government Scholarship applicants must also register first on the CSC platform (campuschina.org) with institution code 10705 and program type B, then select "Chinese Government Scholarship Program" on the XSYU platform. Three things stand out in the 2026 cycle. First, undergraduate applicants must sit the China Scholastic Competency Assessment (CSCA) and reach a passing score, with subjects set per major, and submit the score with the application by 30 June 2026. Second, the language bar is the same HSK level at every degree: HSK 4 with at least 180 points for Chinese-taught study, including doctoral study — the 2025 postgraduate brochure had asked doctoral applicants for HSK 5, so do not rely on older copies. Third, the English-taught offer is narrower than the Chinese-taught one: 6 of 12 undergraduate majors, 10 of 21 master’s majors and 2 of 3 doctoral majors can be taken in English. Age limits are 18–24 for undergraduates, 35 for master’s and 45 for doctoral applicants.

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 Xi'an Shiyou University 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 2026 brochure lists four scholarship schemes: the Chinese Government Scholarship, two Xi’an municipal scholarships (the "Five Central Asian Countries" Scholarship and the "Belt and Road" Scholarship) and the Xi’an Shiyou University Scholarship, which comes in five classes. All recipients go through an annual review that decides whether the award continues, is suspended, cancelled or moved up or down a class. Deadlines follow the route: 27 February 2026 for the Chinese Government Scholarship; for university scholarships, the same dates as self-funded applications — 30 May 2026 for master’s and doctoral applicants and 30 June 2026 for undergraduates. The brochure does not set a separate deadline or application form for the Xi’an municipal scholarships, so ask the office how to be considered for them. The college’s scholarship menu also lists the Shaanxi Sanqin Foreign Student Scholarship, but its only notice there dates from 2017 and the 2026 brochure does not include it.

XSYU’s research follows the oil and gas industry that co-founded it — petroleum and natural gas engineering, geological resources, pipeline and offshore engineering, petrochemicals, materials and mechanical engineering, with economics and management of the energy sector alongside. The 2026 brochure records engineering, chemistry, earth sciences and materials science in the top 1% of the ESI global rankings and the award of the title "National Engineering Master’s Postgraduate Education Characteristic Engineering Field". The English Brief Introduction counts 54 national and provincial-level research bases and RMB 1.04 billion of research funding over five years. Doctoral study is concentrated in the three disciplines authorised to award doctorates: petroleum and natural gas engineering, geological resources and geological engineering, and mechanical engineering.

XSYU’s English Brief Introduction states partnerships with more than 120 overseas institutions, and its recent agreements lean towards Central Asia and New Zealand. The College of International Education — also called the Silk Road Energy College — describes its students as coming chiefly from Belt and Road countries, Central Asia, Western Asia and Africa, with others from Europe and North America. The university has welcomed international students since 1966 and was authorised in 2013 to recruit under the China–Russia Cultural Exchange Chinese Government Scholarship.

XSYU’s co-founders — CNPC, SINOPEC and CNOOC — anchor the industry its programs are built around, which makes the petroleum, geology and pipeline majors the natural choice for students planning careers in their home countries’ oil and gas sectors. The College of International Education has an Employment & Entrepreneurship section on its site and organises company visits for international students; in June 2025 more than 30 international students visited Shaanxi Changfeng Power Co. as part of innovation, entrepreneurship and national-conditions education. The university does not publish employment rates or salary figures for international graduates, so ask the college directly if that matters to your decision.

International students live on one of two campuses in Xi’an, and the choice makes a real difference to cost: a triple room on the Mingde campus costs RMB 4,600 a year, a double RMB 7,500, while a quadruple room on the Huyi campus costs RMB 3,000 (2026 brochure). The college’s fee page describes the apartments as having shared kitchens, laundry facilities, private bathrooms and internet access. Xi’an itself is the starting point of the ancient Silk Road, and the college organises cultural activities — in May 2025 its "Perceiving China – Charm of Shaanxi" social practice series took 50 international students from 19 countries around the province. The college’s site also has pages on student clubs, registration, medical insurance, temporary accommodation registration and residence permits.

Accommodation

Dining

XSYU does not publish canteen locations or meal prices for international students on its English or international-college pages; the college’s fee page mentions shared kitchens in the apartments. Budget for food separately.

Facilities

Reach the College of International Education (Silk Road Energy College), Xi’an Shiyou University for questions about applications, documents, scholarships and arrival. Type university programs and offices are based on campus in Xi'an.