If you are a student and in the US for education solely then you can exclude up to $5000 from what you earn while here (not including grants and scholarships which are not taxable to you).
So, assuming that you are a full time student and a Chinese citizen, if that 1099 is less than $5000 you can ignore it, if it's more than $5000 (or if you have more income to add to it that gets you up over $5000) then you need to file a tax return.
@JY0731