The QS World University Rankings were released on Tuesday, and four Mainland Chinese institutions were included in the top 100. Seven were named in the world’s top 200 universities.

The World’s Top Universities
Tsinghua University was ranked 25 in the world. Tsinghua was the first Chinese university to crack the top 25 back in 2006. Peking University rose 16 spots to number 41, Fudan moved up 20 spots to number 51 and Shanghai Jiaotong University rose 34 spots to number 70.

The top 10 universities in ranking order are: MIT, Harvard University, Cambridge University, Stanford University (tied for third), California Institute of Technology, University of Oxford, University College London, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, and the University of Chicago.

For universities in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology was ranked 28, University of Hong Kong came in at 30, Chinese University of Hong Kong was ranked 51  and City University of Hong Kong placed 57th. Hong Kong Polytechnic University was ranked 116.

Strong Research Institutions
27 Chinese universities were included in the rankings, and 26 of the universities moved up in the list from the previous year.

“Over the past decade China has invested in the fields of higher education and research and have made amazing additions to multiple research programs in the fields of engineering and tech. This year, we looked at a university’s influence in research, and Chinese universities showed a strong performance,” said Ben Sowter, QS Research Director.

Success of China’s C9
The QS rankings have also confirmed the success of the Chinese C9 League. All Nine schools in the elite league increased in the rankings, and seven were included in the global top 200. The C9 universities are Peking University, Tsinghua University, Zhejiang University, Fudan University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Harbin University of Technology and Xi’an Jiaotong University.

China’s C9 League is similar in design to the UK’s Russell Group and U.S.’s Ivy League. C9 Universities are designed to focus on top research in science and the humanities, and the league itself is meant to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between the universities. Internationally, the C9 is also known as “the Chinese Ivy League.”

http://www.echinacities.com/china-media/World-University-Rankings-How-do-Chinese-Universities-Measure-Up