Despite Project 211, Chinese universities are still behind their foreign counterparts. (Photo : Google)
Peking University reigns among Chinese universities as the top ranked institution in the country when it comes to overseas Internet communication skills and influence, according to a report by Beijing Normal University (BNU).
According to an article by China Daily, the report covered a sample of 112 top universities in Project 211, an initiative established in 1995 by the Ministry of Education that aims to raise the research standards of colleges and universities in the country.
Rankings were based on a performance analysis using tools such as Google Trends, Wikipedia, Twitter, Google News, Instagram and Facebook.
"Generally speaking, overseas Internet communication skills and influence have a positive correlation with universities' academic reputation," said Zhang Hongzhong, head of BNU's research team. He also teaches journalism in the university.
Despite Project 211, Chinese universities are still behind their foreign counterparts. Although Peking University earned a score (162,533) that is comparatively higher than University of Tokyo's and University of Amsterdam's, the Chinese university's score is still significantly lower than that of Harvard University's.
Additionally, almost half of universities included in Project 211 did not achieve the passing score of 10,000.
Online presence is also a problem, as all universities polled did not have an official Twitter account or an official Facebook page.
"Most of those Chinese universities only attach importance to domestic publicity and pay little attention to their overseas communications. And this is inappropriate," said Zhang in an interview with China Daily. "Overseas communication skills and influence are crucial for Chinese universities. First, it is the window for Chinese universities to attract brilliant overseas students to study in China.
"Without social media, overseas students cannot get to know the universities. And it is also good for helping Chinese universities attract overseas scholars and other talents in different fields. It's an important part of China's soft power," Zhang added.
