Five Hong Kong universities achieve best rankings in recent years on world list
HKU continues to lead pack at 40th, while mainland China has its best showing of 66 ranked universities
The University of Hong Kong maintained its top standing among institutions of higher education in the city, rising three places to 40th on the latest World Universities Ranking while five of six local universities also achieved their best positions on the list in the past five years.
On Tuesday, Times Higher Education, which provides global coverage on higher education, released its World Universities Ranking for 2018. The rankings take into account academic semesters stretching across two calendar years. Hong Kong had six of its eight public universities on the list.
Peking University in Beijing was ranked 27th, the highest among Chinese universities, climbing two places up from last year. It remained ahead of HKU for the third year in a row. Meanwhile Tsinghua University in Beijing rose five places to 30th.
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This is the first time two of the mainland’s elite institutions entered the top 30 in the annual rankings, bringing the total number of its universities among the top 200 to seven.
“China’s leading universities are truly now part of the global elite,” Phil Baty, editorial director of the 13-year-old global rankings, said.
HKU led the Hong Kong pack by achieving its best ranking since 2014, moving from the 43rd position in 2017 to 40th. But its best placing was 35th in 2013.
“HKU will continue to strive for quality education as well as excellence and innovation in teaching and learning, research and knowledge exchange,” a spokesman said.
The University of Science and Technology climbed from 49th to 44th place, while Chinese University jumped 18 places – the most among the city’s six institutions – from 76th to 58th.
Polytechnic University rose 10 places from 192nd to 182nd, while City University remained at 119th.
Baptist University was the only local institution to go down in the rankings, dropping from the 351-400 range to the 401-500 range.
The University of Science and Technology said in a statement that although it was pleased with its jump of five places, its goal was not to pursue rankings, even though they could serve as a useful reference for understanding performance and to identify areas of improvement.
The mainland saw the highest number of its universities break into the rankings, with its two top movers, Peking University and Tsinghua University, overtaking several prestigious institutions in North America, Europe and Australia.
With 10 new entrants on the list this year, it now has a total of 66 ranked institutions.
