Chinese universities feature strongly in Asia rankings

Universities in China have been ranked second and third in a survey of Asian universities published on Thursday.

Peking University is in second place in the Times Higher Education Asia University rankings for the second year running, while Tsinghua University climbed two places to third.

For the second year in a row, the National University of Singapore topped the ranking.

Joining China’s institutions in the top 10 are two Hong Kong universities. But the University of Hong Kong, the city’s oldest university, slipped one place to fifth.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology stayed at sixth, the same as 2016.

Climbing up the overall rankings are Chinese University of Hong Kong which rose two places to 11th, while City University edged up four places and Polytechnic University ranked 17th, up from last year’s 22nd.

On the Chinese mainland, Shanghai Jiao Tong University jumped from 32nd to 18th on the table, Fudan University jumped moved to 16th from 19th place and Zhejiang University also broke into the top 20 in the rankings to 19, 6 places up from 2016.

Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings said: “Conversations about Asia as the next higher education superpower have tended to focus closely on one nation above all others: China.”

He said that China had been transformed into an international research power and set an example for other nations to follow.

Timothy W Tong, Hong Kong Polytechnic University president told the Times Higher Education: “The complementary fundamental strengths of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland help to power the city state’s universities to create broader economic and social impacts through innovative research and teaching.”

Tong noted that many collaborative opportunities have recently opened up for Hong Kong researchers and professors, such as Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, which offered “unprecedented possibilities to advance research and nurture students in the fields of trade, financial services, construction, engineering and hotel management”.

Universities are judged in five areas – teaching, research, citations, international outlook and knowledge transfer.