This study examines the procedures, criteria, and decision-making in doctoral admissions at China's leading research universities. A content analysis was performed on doctoral admissions texts (N = 312) from 264 faculties of C9 League universities, representing China's elite research-intensive universities. The results show that the admissions procedures tend to highlight previous research and academic merit, which is to be expected for entry to doctoral studies but nonetheless seems to presuppose that all PhD students will follow an academic career path. Several standard practices were found to ensure the rigour and fairness of admissions procedures, such as the adoption of a centralised rather than a decentralised model, the setting of written examinations as a default assessment method, and the highlighting of tangible past achievements, especially pre-doctoral research outputs. There is a lack of supervisor engagement in admissions decision-making, which hinders them from evaluating applicants' potential and degree of fit with their interests. The findings provide evidence of the multiple logics and discourses involved in doctoral admissions in China and offer practical implications for improving the admissions system.