The Ministry of Education announced on Friday that it has updated its degree recognition system, making the process less time consuming and cheaper.
The system will better help employers recognize education qualification of Chinese students abroad who are seeking jobs back in China.
Under the new system, launched on Jan 22, students do not have to visit the designated agencies to accredit overseas qualifications, nor pay to the registered translation companies for a copy of the certificate in Chinese.
All the materials, even non-translated ones, can be submitted online to the Chinese Service Center for Scholarly Exchange under the ministry. And the recognition paper will be delivered to the applicants.
The simplified system also cuts the approval time from more than a month to 20 working days on average, according to Che Weimin, deputy director of the center.
For holders who studied in the United States or the United Kingdom, the procedure will be even shorter with less than 10 working days.
"For top talents or those who have emergency needs, the center will provide a quick pass to shorten the time period," he said.
The recognition now only costs 360 yuan () and the center will adjust the price soon, which is expected to be even cheaper, according to Che.
He said the center will soon introduce a credit system, which will include a blacklist of those who have provided fake education qualifications. And the list will be open to the public.
The ministry started to provide recognition service for overseas Chinese students in 1991. By the end of last year, more than 1.16 million students from 125 countries and regions have recognized their education qualification in the center.
Now, the recognition system covers all countries and regions in the world.
