Heavy investment in higher education by governments in Asia and an 'erosion in performance' by established institutions has led to a shake-up in an annual international ranking of universities.
In the latest QS Intelligence Unit rankings, two of the city's universities topped the list of the world's 'best young universities', a feat called 'remarkable' by organisers of the study.
The world rankings are based on criteria including global surveys of academics and employers, research strength and the proportion of international students and staff.
There was also good news for Peking University, which moved seven places up the Asian rankings to sixth, ahead of Tokyo University, which fell from fourth to eighth. Organisers said it was the first time a university in mainland China had ranked ahead of all of Japan's institutions.
For the second year in a row, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology topped the Asian rankings, but it was beaten into second place in the list of institutions founded within the last 50 years by a local rival, Chinese University, which ranked fifth in Asia.
City University is also in the top 10 of the 'QS Top 50 under 50' list, at No 9. Warwick University in England ranks third and Singapore's Nanyang Technological University is fourth.