Universities and colleges being part of the Double First-Class Construction are considered to be the most elite institutions of Chinese tertiary education, representing the top 5% of overall universities and colleges in Mainland China (approximately 3,000 higher education institutions).[6][7] Regardless of universities in China being involved in a variety of university rankings, the Ministry of Education of China does not advocate or recognize any ranking published by other institutions.[8]
There were 32 universities from Mainland China on lists of the global top 200 in the 2023 Shanghai Ranking's ARWU, behind only the United States in terms of the overall representation.[18] In the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Mainland China had a notable presence with 13 universities listed within the global top 200. This positioning placed Mainland China behind only the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany in terms of overall representation.[19] There were 17 Chinese universities on lists of the global top 200 behind only the United States and the United Kingdom in terms of the overall representation in the 2023 Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities, a composite ranking system combining three of the world's most influential university rankings (ARWU+QS+ THE).[20]
Regional
China has dominated the QS BRICS University Rankings and the THE's Emerging Economies University Rankings since its inception, claiming 7 of the top 10 spots for both rankings. China is also the most-represented nation overall.[21][22] In 2020, China tops the QS Asia University Rankings list with over 120 universities including in the ranking, and five Chinese universities appear in the Asia Top 10, which is more than any other country.[23] As of 2023, the Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) included a total of 10 universities from China within its world top 100 list.[24] Similarly, the Times Higher Education Rankings also featured seven universities from China within its global top 100 list.[25] Notably, this level of representation in both rankings positioned China as the country with the highest overall presence in the Asia & Oceania region.[24][25]
National
China is home to over 3,000 institutions of higher education. Within this vast landscape, around 147 universities as part of the Double First-Class Construction hold a prominent position as national key universities, while the tier 1 universities consist of the former 985 Project Universities.[26][27][28] These universities are widely recognized as some of the most renowned in China and continuously maintain high rankings nationally and globally.[29][30]
There are several comprehensive rankings of universities in China, including Wu Shulian Ranking, made by a team led by Wu Shulian and published in the name of Chinese Academy of Management, Netbig Ranking, made by the higher education internet information company Netbig, and CUAA Ranking, by Airuishen (a company) in the name of Chinese Universities Alumni Association, etc. Shanghai Ruanke compiles both the Best Chinese Universities Ranking (BCUR) and the world university ranking, Academic Ranking of World Universities.[32]
It's said that the first comprehensive (exactly, synthetic) ranking of Chinese universities was made by Cai Yanhou, Higher Education Research Institute, Central South University of Technology, in 1989.[34] Colleges and universities were ranked in four categories, science (generally comprehensive universities), engineering, agricultural and medical.[34]
The Chinese university ranking on research and development in 1991 was published in 1993 by Wu Shulian, Guangdong Academy of Management Science, which was registered in the year 1993 as a private institute and later ceased and was claimed to be the Guangdong branch of Chinese Academy of Management Science. The 1996 ranking was released in 1997, and since then the annual ranking has been released continuously. It's a single list ranking except 1998 ranking, which consists of comprehensive university ranking and technological university ranking, with Nanjing University and Tsinghua University ranking 1st respectively. In 2000, the comprehensive ranking was released under the name Chinese University Assessment. The ranking was later published in the name of Chinese Academy of Management Science.
In 1998, Netbig, or literally Net Universities in abbreviation, a higher education internet information company, released Chinese university ranking.[35]
In 2002, Chinese university ranking by Airuishen (a company) was released. The CUAA Ranking, released in the name of Chinese Universities Alumni Association, is said made by Cai Yanhou team.[36]
A complete ranking of 485 Chinese universities, including in the top 3,000 universities worldwide, can be found through the external link according to the University Ranking by Academic Performance 2020-2021.[41]