New | China outnumbers Japan for first time in Asia university rankings; Hong Kong and Macau in top 100
Chinese institutions outnumbered Japanese for the first time in the annual Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings, released today.
While the University of Tokyo retained its crown as the region’s best, Japan “has lost ground overall, taking 19 of the top 100 positions, down from 20 last year”, the rating body said.
“By contrast, mainland China has increased its presence in the prestigious league table, taking 21 places, up from 18 last year,” it said.
The result underlines China’s rapid growth over the last few decades, including its investment in the education sector.
It also emphasises the increasingly inward-looking trend some commentators see in Japan as fewer young people go abroad to study and as China overtakes it as the destination of choice for foreign students.
South Korea came third in the rankings, with 13 universities, while Taiwan was fourth with 11 institutions.
Six universities from Hong Kong and one from Macau were in the top 100.
By institution, the National University of Singapore ranked second and the University of Hong Kong ranked third, the same spots from last year.
Tellingly, China’s top-ranked institutions gained ground, with Peking University taking fourth place and Tsinghua University fifth.
Japan’s second-best institution, Kyoto University, came ninth, and Tokyo Institute of Technology 15th, both down two notches from last year.
In contrast, China has made significant progress, with Sun Yat-sen University (42nd) securing a top 50 spot, rising 14 places, while Shanghai Jiao Tong University (39th) jumped eight notches.
There was no immediate comment from China’s two top-ranked universities.
The University of Tokyo declined to comment on the result, but its newly appointed president Makoto Gonokami told the ranking body that he would develop new academic disciplines and promote cooperation between the state, industry and academia to reverse Japan’s decline.
“I want to make our institution a place where students and researchers can experience the excitement and joy imparted by knowledge gained, while conducting cutting-edge research,” he was quoted as saying.
Selections from the 2015 Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings
Institution | Score |
1. University of Tokyo (Japan) | 76.1 |
2. National University of Singapore | 73.3 |
3. The University of Hong Kong | 67.5 |
4. Peking University (China) | 65.2 |
5. Tsinghua University (China) | 65.1 |
6. Seoul National University (South Korea) | 64.8 |
7. Hong Kong University of Science and Techonlogy | 64.7 |
8. Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (S Korea) | 64.5 |
9. Kyoto University (Japan) | 62.8 |
10. Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) | 62.2 |
.... | |
13. Chinese University of Hong Kong |
52.4 |
23. City University of Hong Kong | 46.3 |
24. Fudan University (China) | 46.2 |
26. University of Science and Technology of China | 45.1 |
29. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | 44.3 |
35. Nanjing University (China) | 40.3 |
40. University of Macau | 38.0 |
42. Sun Yat-sen University (China) | 37.8 |
.... | |
98. National Yang-Ming University (Taiwan) | 25.5 |
99. Chiba University (Japan) | 25.4 |
100. Pusan National University (South Korea) | 25.1 |