An expert in global university rankings for 20 years, Baty said that the rise of Chinese higher education had been driven by a large investment in science and technology subjects.

"Chinese universities are doing outstanding work in science, technology, mathematics, life sciences," Baty said, adding that the next phase for China would be to strengthen its arts and humanities and social sciences programs. "I think arts and humanity subjects are very important to create the balance and to provide the creativity needed to push research to the next level. So that's the challenge. Another challenge is perhaps to be even more international. Chinese universities have been wonderful in bringing back Chinese scholars from America, from Europe to come back to China to build wonderful universities."

GLOBAL LANDSCAPE

Globally, the University of Oxford retained first place in the rankings. The University of Cambridge climbed two places to second, overtaking the California Institute of Technology and Stanford University, both in third place. In terms of institution numbers, the United States continues to dominate the rankings.

When announcing the ranking result Tuesday at the World Academic Summit, Baty said they were a bit surprised to see that two British universities had seized first and second place.

"Leading universities in the UK, in London, Oxford and Cambridge have held on very well. But I think many more of the universities in England are more challenged. They are not generously funded as some of the great Chinese universities now," he said.

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