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University Rankings: China

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All rankings in China are conducted independently of the government, which has repeatedly stressed that it does not support ranking exercises, believing that an inability to guarantee objective results renders them meaningless. Having said that, the Chinese government has identified a group of almost 100 universities that it believes meet certain standards of excellence. Dubbed the ‘211 Project,’ these national ‘key’ universities have been selected to receive increased funding in an attempt to build a network of ‘world-class’ universities. More recently, an even more select group of universities from within the 211 group has been identified. The so-called ‘985’ universities receive even greater subsidies from the government (see section below).

In addition to the annual ranking of world universities produced by Shanghai Jiaotong University, we have identified six other organizations and research centers that publish domestic university rankings.

NETBIG

First published in 1999 by China Youth Daily, the annual NETBIG [9] ranking rates Chinese institutions of higher education with degree-awarding powers. Since 2000, the ranking has been made available online from the NETBIG website [10], a higher education directory.  The ranking lists institutions numerically in descending order according to their overall score. In 2005, 694 institutions were rated and listings were offered on an overall ordinal scale as well as by specialization (11 in total).

Methodology

NETBIG uses a traditional weight-and-add approach to its ranking methodology, employing six different indicators: prestige (based on the results of a survey sent out to academics, well-known scholars and university presidents); academic resources (number of master’s and doctoral programs per student; national key programs and labs and centers per student; national centers in social sciences per student); research output (total and per faculty papers indexed by 7 different indexes and databases); student academic achievement (entrance examination scores, percentage of graduate students, placement rate of undergraduate and graduate students); faculty (percentage of faculty with doctorates, percentage of professors, number of Chinese Academy of Science and Changjiang fellows, faculty-student ratio); infrastructure (research funding per faculty member, books per student, campus and facility size per student).

The top university is awarded an overall score of 100, and all universities thereafter are awarded a score as a percentage of the top university’s score. The weighting for each category is as follows:

NETBIG Indicators and Weighting
Indicator Weighting
Prestige* 15
Academic resources 20
Research output 22
Student academic achievement 12
Faculty 19
Infrastructure 12

Source: NETBIG.com
* For the prestige section of the 2003 ranking 998 surveys were sent out. Valid feedback was received from 335 respondents.

Results

NETBIG Top 20 (2005)
Institution Overall Score Rank
Tsinghua University 100 1
Beijing University 90 2
Nanjing University 73 3
University of Science and technology of China 71 4
Fudan University 69 5
Zhejiang University 68 6
Shanghai Jiaotong University 63 7
Nankai University 62 8
Beijing Normal University 60 9
China Renmin University 58 10
Sun Yat-Sen University 55 11
Wuhan University 54 12
Xi’an Jiaotong University 54 12
Huazhong University Science & Technology 52 14
Tianjin University 52 14
Dalian University of Technology 51 16
Beijing university of Aeronautics & Astronautics 51 16
Xiamen University 49 18
Sichuan University 49 18
Harbin Institute of Technology 49 18

Source: NETBIG.com [11]
NB: The last ranking to be translated into English was the 2003 edition [12].

The Guangdong Institute of Management Science (GIMS) Ranking

The GIMS ranking was first published in 1993 and then two years later in 1995. Since 1995, the ranking has been published on an annual basis in the journal Science and Management of Science and Technology.

Methodology

The GIMS ranking takes into account institutional research performance (43%) and also includes indicators of educational performance (57%). It lists the top 100 institutions overall as well as producing a number of rankings by specialization. Educational performance is measured at the graduate level by the number of master’s and doctoral graduates, and at the undergraduate level by the number of bachelor graduates. Research quality is measured in the sciences by research output and citations in a range of high-profile journals and indexes; also considered are patents and national and provincial awards. In the social sciences, paper indexes and citations are counted, as are national and provincial awards.

The weightings are as follows:

Guangdong Institute of Management Science (GIMS) Criteria and Weighting
Criteria Level/Area Weighing (percent)
Education Graduate 19.1%
Undergraduate 37.99%
Research Sciences 34.74%
Social Sciences 8.17%

Source: Liu & Liu. “University Rankings in China,” Higher Education in Europe, Vol. 30, No. 2, July 2005.

Research Center for China Science Evaluation (RCCSE), Wuhan University

Relatively new on the ranking scene, RCCSE was first published in 2004 and ranks institutions with graduate-level, degree-awarding powers. Universities are divided into two categories and ranked separately: the ‘national key universities’ with intensive research programs are ranked separately from all other universities that meet the necessary inclusion criterion.

Methodology

RCCSE uses a complex set of criteria to rank universities, involving 50 different indicators grouped under four main criteria and 18 sub criteria. The four main criteria and their weightings in the ‘key university rankings” are: resources (16.71%), education (26.16%), research (45.31%), reputation (11.82). For non-key universities, the criteria and sub-criteria focus more on education and resources than research in comparison to the ranking for key universities. The main criteria and weightings are as follows: resources 25.99, research 32.75, education 41.26.

Data is drawn from four main sources: government statistics; relevant research and citation databases from home and abroad; government and university websites; and related publications, books, and newspapers.

Results

In May 2006 RCCSE published its third annual league table. The top ten key universities were ranked as follows:

Research Center for China Science Evaluation (RCCSE), Wuhan University Rankings (2006)
University Rank
Beijing University 1
Tsinghua University 2
Zhejiang University 3
Fudan University 4
Shanghai Jiaotong University 5
Nanjing University 6
Wuhan University 7
Jilin University 8
Huazhong University of Science and Technology 9
Sun Yat-Sen University 10

Source: RCCSE news release May 15, 2006

The Chinese Universities Alumni Association (CUAA) Ranking

First published in 2003, the CUAA ranking and weightings were originally determined from the results of an online survey. The alumni association publishes its findings on its website [13].

Methodology

The CUAA researchers use a similar weight-and-add approach to other Chinese university rankings, using six main criteria with 35 indicators. The main criteria and weightings are as follows: does the university have government recognized national status? (7.08%, 3 indicators — ‘211 project’, affiliated to Ministry of Defense, key university); research (27.43%, 10 indicators mainly focused on national awards and facilities); faculty (23%, 8 indicators based on national awards and fellowships); programs (25.68%, 9 indicators based on national program awards and designations, graduate programs and schools); students (7.08%, 3 indicators based on national awards); reputation (9.73%, 2 indicators — applications for graduate admissions, reputation — based on the results of an online vote).

Results

The Chinese Universities Alumni Association (CUAA) Top 20 (2005)
University Overall Score Rank
Tsinghua University 100 1
Beijing University 99.87 2
Zhejiang University 65.92 3
Fudan University 62.11 4
Nanjing University 59.35 5
Wuhan University 55.17 6
Huazhong University of Science & Technology 49.99 7
Shanghai Jiaotong University 49.94 8
Jilin University 47.12 9
China Renmin University 44.83 10
Nankai University 43.88 11
Xi’an Jiaotong University 43.25 12
Chinese University of Technology 42.71 13
Sun Yat-Sen University 42.65 14
Central South University 41.89 15
Harbin University of Technology 40.37 16
Sichuan University 40.22 17
Beijing Normal University 39.36 18
Tianjin University 36.82 19
Shandong University 36.61 20

 

The complete results are available from: <www.cuaa.net/2005/index_500.shtml [14]>

The Shanghai Institute of Educational Science (SIES) Ranking

First published in 2003, the SIES ranking evaluates institutions with degree-awarding powers, and divides them into five separately ranked divisions. The five categories are as follows: arts and science, engineering, teacher education, medicine, and finance and law.

Methodology

Major indicators used for this study include total enrollment, the percentage of graduate students, the number of international students, the percentage of faculty with doctorates, ration of full professors to students, education expenditure per student, total and per capita faculty research grants, the number of national key programs, and the number of national education awards. Detailed weighting methodology is currently unavailable.

The China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center (CDGDC) Ranking

The CDGDC researchers rank graduate programs. The first ranking was published in 2002 in the journal Chinese Graduate Education. As of 2004, university departments in a total of 80 majors had been ranked according to four different criteria: academic quality, research and development, graduate employment potential, and reputation. For each major, scores out of 100 are awarded for each criterion in addition to an overall institution score. The indicators and methodology for each ranking criteria are not made available. The CDGDC also lists top universities for each specialization under each major field of study. Neither a methodology nor ranking criteria are made available. The results of the major and specialization rankings are available in Chinese from the CDGDC website: www.cdgdc.edu.cn [15].

Comparative Results

Comparative Results
Institution NETBIG GIMS RCCSE CUAA Ave. Rank Consistency*
Tsinghua 1 1 1 2 1.3 Good
Beijing 2 2 2 1 1.8 Good
Fudan 4 4 3 3 3.5 Good
Zhejiang 5 3 4 4 4 Good
Nanjing 3 6 5 5 4.8 Good
Shanghai Jiaotong 7 9 6 6 7 Good
Wuhan 13 7 7 8 8.8 Fair
University of Science & Technology of China 5 15 8 10 9.5 Poor
Huazhong University of Science 15 5 14 7 10.3 Poor
Sun Yat-Sen 11 11 10 15 11.8 Fair
Xi’an Jiaotong 11 12 15 11 12.3 Fair
Nankai 8 19 11 12 12.5 Poor
Jilin 24 8 12 9 13.3 Poor
Harbin Institute of Technology 13 13 17 13 14 Fair
Sichuan 20 10 16 14 15 Poor
Beijing Normal University 9 22 13 19 15.8 Poor
Renmin 10 28 10 17 16.3 Poor
Tianjin 15 16 22 20 18.3 Fair
Tongji 21 21 20 16 19.5 Fair
Shandong 24 14 19 21 19.5 Fair
Beihang 17 23 23 22 21.3 Fair
Central South 29 17 21 18 21.3 Poor
Xiamen 17 25 18 28 22 Poor
South East 21 20 26 23 22.5 Fair
Dalian University of Technology 17 26 25 25 23.3 Poor
Northwestern Polytechnic University 24 29 29 24 26.5 Fair
South China University of Science & Technology 31 24 27 26 27 Fair
China Agriculture University 28 30 28 30 29 Good
East China Normal University 24 34 24 39 30.3 Poor
Beijing Institute of Technology 32 36 31 27 31.5 Fair
University of Science & Technology of Beijing 21 40 34 33 32 Poor
Northeastern 34 27 42 31 33.5 Poor
Lanzhou 29 42 33 32 34 Poor
Chongqing 51 31 35 29 36.5 Poor
East China University of Science & Technology 34 35 43 46 39.5 Poor

Source: Liu & Liu (2005)
* ‘Good’ indicates an average deviation smaller than 1; ‘Poor’ indicates an average deviation greater than 3.

The 211 and 985 projects

In 1995 the Chinese government announced a project to develop a network of 100 key (world-class) universities and academic disciplines to meet the country’s social and economic development needs through what is known as the ‘211 Project’. Particular emphasis has been placed on the advancement of science and technology.

In addition, a smaller elite group of 10 universities was identified in 1998 to receive special three-year grants worth millions of dollars under what has been labeled the ‘985 Project’. Included in the first round of 985 grants were Peking, Tsinghua, Fudan, Zhejiang, and Nanjing Universities. Both Peking University and Tsinghua University were granted $225 million each over five years, while Nanjing University and Shanghai Jiaotong University received $150 million each. In 2004 the second phase of the 985 Project was launched with a widening of the number of universities to a total of more than 30.

Some observers believe that the 985 Project implies recognition that China may fail to develop 100 internationally recognized institutions in the near future. There is also significant debate and uncertainty as to what exactly defines a “world-class university” or how universities can achieve that status.

To date the Ministry of Education [16] has identified 96 institutions of higher education for the “211 project” in addition to 602 key subjects. The 96 institutions are as follows:

  1. Anhui University
  2. Beijing Broadcasting Institute
  3. Beijing Forestry University
  4. Beijing Institute of Technology
  5. Beijing Normal University
  6. Beijing University of Aeronautics & Astronautics
  7. Beijing University of Chemical Technology
  8. Beijing University of Chinese Medicine
  9. Beijing University of Foreign Studies
  10. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
  11. Beijing University of Technology
  12. Central Conservatory of Music
  13. Central South University
  14. Central University for Nationalities
  15. Chang An University
  16. China Agricultural University
  17. China Pharmaceutical University
  18. China University of Geosciences
  19. China University of Mining and Technology
  20. China University of Science & Technology
  21. Chongqing University
  22. Dalian Maritime University
  23. Dalian University of Technology
  24. Donghua University
  25. East China Normal University
  26. East China University of Science and Technology
  27. Fourth Military Medical University
  28. Fudan University
  29. Fuzhou University
  30. Guangxi University
  31. Harbin Engineering University
  32. Harbin Institute of Technology
  33. Hebei University of Technology
  34. Hohai University
  35. Huazhong University of Science & Technology
  36. Hunan Normal University
  37. Hunan University
  38. Inner Mongolia University
  39. Jilin University
  40. Jinan University
  41. Lanzhou University
  42. Liaoning University
  43. Nanchang University
  44. Nanjing Agricultural University
  45. Nanjing Normal University
  46. Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  47. Nanjing University of Science and Technology
  48. Nanjing University
  49. Nankai University
  50. National University of Defense Technology
  51. Northeast Agricultural University
  52. Northeast Normal University
  53. Northeastern University
  54. Northern Jiaotong University
  55. Northwest University
  56. Northwestern Polytechnic University
  57. Ocean University of China
  58. Peking University
  59. Renmin University of China
  60. Second Military Medical University
  61. Shandong University
  62. Shanghai International Studies University
  63. Shanghai Jiaotong University
  64. Shanghai Second Medical University
  65. Shanghai University of Finance & Economics
  66. Shanghai University
  67. Sichuan Agricultural University
  68. Sichuan University
  69. South China Normal University
  70. South China University of Technology
  71. Southeast University
  72. Southern Yangtze University
  73. Southwest Jiaotong University
  74. Southwestern University of Finance & Economics
  75. Sun Yat-Sen University
  76. Suzhou University
  77. Taiyuan University of Technology
  78. Tianjin Medical University
  79. Tianjin University
  80. Tongji University
  81. Tsinghua University
  82. University of Electronic Science and Technology of China
  83. University of International Business and Economics
  84. University of Petroleum
  85. University of Science and Technology Beijing
  86. Wuhan University of Technology
  87. Wuhan University
  88. Xiamen University
  89. Xian Jiaotong University
  90. Xidian University
  91. Xinjiang University
  92. Yanbian University
  93. Yunnan University
  94. Zhejiang University
  95. Zhengzhou University
  96. Zhongnan University of Economics and Law

A listing by province (in Chinese) is available at: www.eol.cn/article/20030911/3090736.shtml# [17]