LONDON, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- Chinese universities have again performed well in global rankings for computer science and engineering technology, according to a league table released on Thursday.
The Times Higher Education (THE) league table showed strong results from leading Chinese universities.
Ellie Bothwell, Global Rankings Editor at THE, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview: "China performs very well in these technology-focused subjects with lots of universities represented in these rankings."
She added: "China has a handful of universities which are in the top 100 universities globally, and in the computer science list most of the Chinese universities are improving."
In computer science, Tsinghua University is rated highest Chinese university and holds its position at No. 20.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University rises into the top 50 at 49th, with a particularly strong improvement to its industry income and international outlook score.
The University of Science and Technology of China rises from 71st to joint 57th, sharing the position with Rice University in the U.S..
While ranked high globally, Peking University slips from 25th to 32nd with a drop in its industry income, international outlook and research scores.
Peking University also leads Chinese universities in engineering, but slips seven places to 14, with a decline in its industry income score.
Tsinghua University rises two places to No. 20, with improvements to its teaching and citation impact scores. Zhejiang University rises from 50th to joint 37th, sharing the position with the University of Tokyo, and Johns Hopkins University from the U.S..
Huazhong University of Science and Technology enters the top 100, at 99 with improvements across the board, but especially in its research influence, citation impact and industry income scores.
Hong Kong retains five universities in the global top 70 for engineering, led again by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Bothwell said that China had led Asia in a rise in the rankings organized by THE in recent years, not just in computer science and engineering technology but also in rankings for global research, prestige and for ability.
"The rise of Asia, but China specifically, has been a noticeable trend across our various rankings," Bothwell said.
Part of China's investment focus has been in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, and Bothwell said this had paid off: "A big part of why China is becoming more prominent in these tables is because it invests a huge amount in higher education and science."
However, other universities globally are challenging in the rankings.
In the global 100 computer science rankings seven of the top 10 universities are from the United States, with top ranked university being Britain's University of Oxford for the first time, followed by ETH Zurich in second place and the University of Cambridge in fourth.
In the engineering technology tables, Oxford again leads with the United States' Stanford and Harvard in second and third, and with National University of Singapore being Asia's highest entrant in eighth place.
