Professional Chinese: STEM

What this subject measures

Professional Chinese: STEM assesses whether a student can understand and use Chinese in academic situations connected with mathematics, science, engineering, technology, medicine, and related disciplines. The paper is entirely in Chinese. It tests language through subject-relevant contexts; it is not a bilingual Physics, Chemistry, or Mathematics examination.

The required Professional Chinese track depends on the university, program, teaching language, and admission route. Confirm the precise subject requirement with each target university before registering, especially when a program combines a Chinese language requirement with one or more separate STEM subject papers.

Exam format

Item	Official format
Duration	90 minutes
Questions	80
Question type	Single-answer multiple choice
Language	Chinese only
Score	0–100

Because 80 questions must be completed in 90 minutes, candidates need fast recognition of common language items and disciplined handling of technical readings. Training should combine short, rapid questions with longer passages, tables, explanations, or scientific contexts under a single time limit.

Official task types

Chinese Character Recognition

These questions assess accurate recognition of characters and words in context. Technical terms often contain familiar characters whose combined meaning is specific, so study complete terms together with their pronunciation, definition, and subject use.

Word Selection

Candidates choose the word that most appropriately completes a sentence or passage. Consider exact meaning, collocation, grammatical role, register, quantity, direction, and the logical relationship among technical statements.

Word-Usage Discrimination

This task separates words or expressions that are easy to confuse. Compare their scope, conditions, syntax, and disciplinary meaning. A personal contrast list should include a correct STEM-context example, not only an English gloss.

Paragraph Completion

Paragraph-completion questions test cohesion and ordering. Follow definitions, conditions, procedures, causal chains, comparisons, classifications, examples, and conclusions. Connectors and reference words often show where a missing sentence belongs.

Sentence Completion

Sentence-completion items require both grammatical accuracy and technical logic. Identify the missing sentence component, match parallel structures, and check that the completed statement expresses a scientifically coherent relationship.

Reading Comprehension

Reading material may involve three broad areas identified by the syllabus: basic mathematical and scientific concepts, foundational subject-course content, and academic or practical applications. Questions can target a main idea, detail, definition, process, condition, comparison, inference, data description, or the function of a sentence within an explanation.

Vocabulary and reading scope

Prepare with both the official basic Chinese vocabulary list and the STEM Chinese vocabulary list. Connect each technical term to its symbol, unit, formula, diagram, process, or typical sentence pattern where relevant. The lists support reading, but they do not replace regular practice with complete explanations and passages.

How to prepare

1. Measure accuracy and time separately for each of the six official task types.
2. Review both official vocabulary lists using definitions, collocations, subject examples, and confused-term contrasts.
3. Practise reading definitions, experimental procedures, quantitative relationships, data descriptions, cause-and-effect explanations, and application scenarios.
4. When a passage contains a table, formula, symbol, or diagram, explain its meaning in Chinese before answering questions.
5. Complete full mixed sets of 80 questions in 90 minutes and reserve a deliberate block of time for longer reading passages.

Common mistakes

• Treating the paper as a general conversation test rather than academic Chinese.
• Translating every term word by word instead of learning its disciplinary meaning.
• Knowing a STEM concept but misreading the condition, comparison, or question stem.
• Ignoring paragraph structure while focusing only on isolated terminology.
• Assuming HSK or an English-taught program automatically removes the requirement.

Related guidance

Compare the Humanities version before selecting a track. See the CSCA exam overview for the overall subject structure and the Professional Chinese preparation guide for a longer practice routine.

Source note

This independent guide summarizes the official CSCA exam introduction, the 2025 Professional Chinese STEM syllabus, and both official vocabulary lists retrieved on 17 August 2026. Recheck official and university requirements before registration.