Universities given boost in rankings

China's reputation rises for quality teaching and research－attracting more overseas students

Top-ranked Chinese universities

China's universities have risen in stature, according to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, a prestigious listing that includes four Chinese institutions in the global top 50.

The 13th edition of the rankings, released on Wednesday, reflects China's growing reputation for quality teaching and research, which are attracting more students from abroad.

The top-ranked Chinese universities in the 2016-17 rankings are Peking University(29th), Tsinghua University(35th), the University of Hong Kong (joint 43rd) and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (49th).

Fourteen Chinese universities are ranked in the top 400, which puts them among the top 2 percent of higher education institutions worldwide. China has 14 new entrants on this year's list, which includes 59 Chinese universities among the world's best 980 institutions.

Phil Baty, editor of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, said improvements in Chinese universities' ratings can be partly attributed to their better academic reputation, the influence of their research, and their ability to attract international talent.

Li Jinliang,dean of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange at Tsinghua University, said the ranking improvements reflect both the development of Chinese universities and the evolution of international rankings to better capture the unique advantages of universities globally.

"Although any ranking methodology is subject to limitations, the university rankings produced by organizations like THE present us with a worthy plan to assess the competitiveness of our university in the global context," Li said.

According to the Ministry of Education, China received more than 377,000 students from 203 countries in 2014. About 2,500 higher education institutions in China offer places to foreign students.

Rapidly improving standards and the value of a Chinese university degree have prompted foreign governments to encourage study in China.

The British Council's Generation UK campaign, launched in 2013, supported an increase of nearly50percent in the number of British students going to China annually. Last year, nearly 8,000 British students went to China, compared to fewer than 5,400 in 2012. The campaign is funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and aims to increase the number of UK students who study or take internships in China to 80,000 by 2020.

Lukas Thibaut, head of communications for education at the British Council, said China's performance will further motivate British students to study in the country.