Despite Project 211, Chinese universities are still behind their foreign counterparts. (Photo : Google)
Japan's University of Tokyo remains unbeaten among Asian universities, but the overall balance of power has shifted to its neighbor, China, in the recently released Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings 2015. Chinese universities' stellar performance has earned the country the recognition as the number one producer of top universities in the region.
In the Asia University Rankings 2015, 21 Chinese universities made the cut, in contrast to the 18 universities that made it through in 2014 and 13 in 2013. Japan, on the other hand, was represented by 19 of its top institutions.
Peking University earned the fourth spot among top Asian universities, while Tsinghua University closely followed the former at fifth.
"This really is China's year. With three new entrants and some of the country's established universities climbing up the tables," said Phil Baty, the editor of the Times Higher Education Rankings, in an interview with Xinhua.
Baty also added that China's success can be attributed to the investment it has allocated to research and development, as well as the country's serious commitment to higher education.
Thirteen performance indicators were used to determine the top universities in Asia, which scrutinize university strengths against the core missions of international outlook, teaching, knowledge transfer, and research.
As for Japan, its academic institutions continue to suffer due to budget cuts caused by debt. While the quality remains top-notch, for Simon Marginson from the UCL Institute of Education, higher education in the Land of the Rising Sun is at a standstill.
"Japan is careful to maintain the leading edge of its very top universities such as Tokyo and Kyoto, but has been less committed than has China to pumping more investment into the universities on the next level," he said.
China's administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau have also done well in the rankings, while Taiwan's performance continues to decline.
