China (Mainland) claims QS Asia University Rankings top spot for the first time

Quacquarelli Symonds, higher education experts, released the 15th annual QS World University Rankings[https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asia-university-rankings/2023]: Asia—the largest-ever—featuring 760 universities: 61% declining, 14% improving, 15% unchanged and 10% brand-new.

Peking University claims Asia’s top spot, breaking the National University of Singapore’s four-year run in first. NUS falls to second while Tsinghua University comes third. China-Mainland has the most universities ranked, (128), followed by India (118) and Japan (106).

Top-20

2023

2022

1

2

Peking University

China-Mainland

2

1

National University of Singapore

Singapore

3

5

Tsinghua University

China-Mainland

4

3=

University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong SAR

5

3=

Nanyang Technological University

Singapore

6=

7

Fudan University

China-Mainland

6=

6

Zhejiang University

China-Mainland

8

14

KAIST

South Korea

9

8

Universiti Malaya

Malaysia

10

10

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

China-Mainland

11

11=

The University of Tokyo

Japan

12=

11=

CUHK

Hong Kong SAR

12=

16

Yonsei University

South Korea

14

9

HKUST

Hong Kong SAR

15

13

Korea University

South Korea

16

15

Kyoto University

Japan

17

18

Seoul National University

South Korea

18

17

Sungkyunkwan University

South Korea

19

19

National Taiwan University

Taiwan

20

21

Tokyo Institute of Technology

Japan

(c) QS https://www.topuniversities.com/

Japan and China boast two universities each in the top-5 for Academic and Employer Reputation. The University of Tokyo tops both these metrics.
India excels in research production, with three universities among the top-5 for Papers/Faculty.
Considering only locations with 10+ ranked institutions, South Korea enjoys the highest concentration of top-20 universities while Malaysia has the highest concentration of top-50 (17%) and top-100 institutions (22%).
Singapore and Hong Kong-SAR produce high-impact research, with two institutions each among the top-5 for Citations/Paper.
Pakistan’s Aga Khan University enjoys Asia’s highest teaching capacity according to Faculty/Student Ratio.
Five new entrants rank among top-100. Kazakhstan’s Al-Farabi Kazakh National University is the highest (44th).
Iran boasts some of Asia’s most highly trained faculty, according to QS’ Staff with PhD indicator.
Thailand achieves its best results for Academic Reputation, with five universities among top-100, while The Philippines for Employer Reputation, with four Filipino universities among top-100.
Vietnam sees most improvement – 55% of its institutions rise.
Ben Sowter QS Senior Vice-President said: “China’s sustained and substantial investment in higher education underpins today’s success, with Peking University named Asia’s best and Tsinghua University third-best. Singapore continues to punch above its weigh, with two top-5 universities.
Some Asian higher education systems face challenges due to declining population.”