WES and Chinese credentials — why a translation is not what they want
This is the guide most likely to save you money by telling you not to buy anything. Chinese credentials go to WES through a verification channel, and a certified translation is not part of it.
The thing to understand first
For most countries, a WES credential evaluation runs on documents your institution sends plus certified translations. China is handled differently. China's Ministry of Education operates a national verification system, and WES routes Chinese credentials through it.
That means the deliverable is a verification report, not a translation. If your first move was to buy a certified translation of your transcript, that money has probably not bought you anything WES asked for.
One body now, not two
Until 2022 there were two verification bodies and every guide, including WES's own 2018 announcement, told you to go to both: CHESICC (学信网) for transcripts and graduation records, and CDGDC (学位网) for degree certificates. That routing is obsolete. On 15 August 2022 the Ministry of Education consolidated degree verification under the Center for Student Services and Development (CSSD, 教育部学生服务与素质发展中心), and CDGDC stopped accepting verification applications. CSSD issues every report an evaluator asks for, and it takes applications through one portal, CHSI (学信网).
| Report | Chinese name | What it verifies |
|---|---|---|
| Verification report of higher education degree certificate | 学位认证报告 | That the degree was conferred — the 学位证 |
| Verification report of higher education qualification certificate | 学历认证报告 | That the programme was completed — the 毕业证 |
| Verification report of student records / transcript | 成绩单认证报告 | The courses and grades on the institution's file |
Older walkthroughs that send you to 学位网 for the degree report are describing a door that has been closed for four years. If a service still quotes CDGDC as a step, it has not updated its process either.
Reports are issued electronically and in English on request, which is why no separate translation of them is needed.
What WES requires
The pattern for Chinese post-secondary credentials:
- Open the WES application first. The CHSI application for an evaluator-bound report asks for the evaluator and your reference number, and a report that arrives without a matching WES file has nowhere to land.
- Apply on CHSI for the degree (or qualification) verification report and the transcript verification report, and have CSSD send them to WES electronically. This is the "official channel": the reports go from the issuing system to WES, not through your hands.
- Send WES a copy of the degree or graduation certificate yourself, in the format your WES application specifies.
Two details people miss:
- Secondary school credentials are not affected by the China-specific verification requirement. High school documents follow the ordinary route.
- In-progress study is handled separately: your institution sends a letter of enrolment in a sealed, stamped envelope, and the transcript is verified through the same channel.
The sealed envelope
Where physical documents are involved, WES requires them in a sealed envelope from the issuing institution, with a seal, stamp or official signature across the flap.
An envelope you opened to check the contents is no longer a sealed envelope. This is not a formality WES waives — the seal is the evidence that you did not touch the documents.
Where a translation still has a role
Not for WES's verification requirement, but Chinese academic documents come up in several places at once, and the routes differ:
| Who is asking | What they want |
|---|---|
| WES | Verification reports through the official channel |
| The graduate admissions office | Often the university's own sealed transcript, sometimes a WES report, sometimes both |
| A scholarship or employer | Frequently a certified translation |
| USCIS, for a work visa | A certified translation, under the ordinary federal rule |
So the answer is not "you never need a translation of your transcript" — it is "WES's requirement is not satisfied by one." Work out which of these you are actually facing before spending.
Get the English version at source, if you can
Many Chinese universities issue English transcripts and English degree certificates on request from the academic affairs office. When they do, that document is stronger than any translation you could commission, because it comes from the issuing institution.
Ask before paying for anything. If your university issues English versions and can seal them, several of the problems on this page disappear at once.
What the verification report contains
The report ties your record to the institution's own data: name, institution, programme, dates, degree conferred, and, for the transcript report, the courses and grades. It is issued in English on request, which is another reason no separate translation is needed for it.
Reports carry an online verification code. Whoever receives it can check it against the issuing system, which is exactly the property that makes it more valuable than a translation.
Grades: do not pre-convert
If you are separately producing a translated transcript for someone who does want one, keep the original grading values. A percentage stays a percentage; 良好 stays "good".
Evaluators apply institution-specific conversion rules. A transcript arriving with grades already converted to a 4.0 scale has had the evaluator's job done for them by someone without their conversion tables, and it can be sent back for that reason. See translating transcripts and degrees.
The 毕业证 / 学位证 distinction, again
WES will want to see the qualification documents, and China issues two:
- 毕业证书 — graduation certificate, certifying completion of the programme
- 学位证书 — degree certificate, certifying that a degree was conferred
They are separate documents and a person can hold one without the other. Send both if you have both, and label them distinctly. A file containing one of them, described ambiguously as "diploma", leaves the evaluator unable to tell whether the other exists.
Timing
The verification step takes time — commonly a few weeks, longer around Chinese public holidays and graduation season, and longer again if your institution has to be contacted for records that predate their digital archive. Graduates from before roughly the late 1990s or early 2000s frequently need manual verification.
Start the verification before the application deadline you are working towards, not after. It is the long pole.
FAQ
Do I need a certified translation for WES?
For Chinese credentials, the requirement is verification through the official channel rather than a translation you commission. Read WES's own China page for your credential type before buying anything.
Can I send the verification report myself?
WES's instructions distinguish between documents you send and documents that must arrive through the official channel. Follow their page precisely — a report that arrives by the wrong route may not be counted, and re-sending costs another cycle.
I already have a CDGDC degree verification report from before 2022. Can I use it?
Ask WES before relying on it. CDGDC reports issued while that body was still the competent authority were genuine, but they cannot be re-sent through the official channel now, and their online verification codes may have lapsed. In most cases the clean answer is a fresh CSSD report through CHSI.
My university closed or merged. What now?
Verification is against Ministry of Education records rather than the institution alone, so a merger usually does not break the chain. Contact CSSD through CHSI about the specific institution.
I graduated in the 1990s. Is my record in the system?
Digital records generally do not extend that far back, and older records typically need manual verification, which takes longer. Start early.
Does the verification report expire?
The report itself does not, but online verification codes have a validity period that you can extend through the issuing system. If an institution will check the code, make sure the validity period covers when they will look.
Sources
- WES — updated document requirements for China (2018 announcement of the verification-report requirement)
- CSSD — China Credentials Verification (the English portal of CHSI, where every verification report is applied for)
- CHSI — WES application and submission process
Translating this document yourself?
CertTwin turns an uploaded document into a side-by-side draft you check yourself: tables kept intact, every digit frozen before translation and verified back into place by code, seals described rather than copied. US$1.00 per page.
Related guides
- Translating a Chinese transcript, degree and graduation certificateChina issues two separate certificates where most countries issue one, and conflating them is the error that costs applications. Plus every transcript field, the grading scales, and the course-name traps.
- What certified translation costs in 2026, and what the price is actually buyingAround US$25 a page is the going rate for online certified translation. Here is what that page is defined as, which five separate jobs the fee covers, and which of them you can do yourself.
- Translating a Chinese notarial certificate (公证书)How the notarial booklet is structured, what the certificate number encodes, the standard notarial wording, and the difference between a certificate of a fact and a certificate that a copy matches the original.
About this page
This page explains rules published by third parties. It is general information, not legal or immigration advice, and requirements change — check the receiving authority's own current page before you rely on anything here. Every external rule cited is linked so you can do exactly that.
CertTwin is software that produces a translation draft marked PREVIEW_ONLY for you to review. It is not a certified translation service, not a law firm, and it does not certify, notarise or swear translations. Where a certified or sworn translation is required, that step is done by you or by a qualified translator.