Who Are the Actors Involved in the Chinese Government Scholarship Council’s (CSC) Policy Implementation? A Mapping Analysis of Policy Documents

International student mobility (ISM) is one of the most important and widespread features of international higher education today. One factor affecting ISM is the range and increase in scholarship providers, of which the China Scholarship Council (CSC) scholarship, is among the most influential and impactful globally. While many existing studies have focused on the national economic motivations of scholarship programmes, the research presented in our paper adopts a broader perspective, emphasising some of the organisational and political complexities in scholarship policy implementation. We use and build upon a framework that explains how scholarship policy is implemented. In it, scholarship organisations are mapped alongside the students as scholarship recipients as well as the universities as policy actors. The principal aim of this paper is to map out the roles and relationships of different actors in the implementation of scholarship policies, showing the importance of multi-level governance and stakeholder collaboration. The findings show that CSC scholarship policy involves multiple interconnected actors whose roles and relationships can be systematically identified through policy documents. By extending the framework, this study identifies not only scholarship organisations, universities, and sponsored students, but also local education departments and employers as important actors in the policy process. The analysis further shows that CSC scholarship policies have evolved over time, with changes in priorities, requirements, and selection criteria reflecting broader national development strategies. Given that fact that the complex structures and workings of the CSC are still little understood and under-researched in anglophone literature, our analysis provides practical insights as well as additional guidance for promoting effective, inclusive, and sustainable transnational higher education. The discussions offer valuable insights for policymakers and institutions committed to enhancing international scholarship programmes and global higher education capacity building.