The Times Higher Education China Subject Ratings are the only performance tables that judge Chinese institutions against their global peers based on the Chinese Ministry of Education’s classification of subjects.

The methodology links closely to the THE World University Rankings, but the indicators have been adapted and recalibrated. The ratings measure research-intensive universities’ subject performance across four core areas: teaching, research, international outlook and knowledge transfer.

The ratings include 1,885 universities worldwide, 86 of which are in mainland China. They measure performance in 83 subjects across 13 pillars.

View the China Subject Ratings 2024 methodology

Overall, mainland China scores an average grade of B+ in the ratings, above the global average of B. Chinese universities are the highest-performing institutions in the world on average in three of the 83 subjects: astronomy; aerospace science and technology; and integrated circuit science and engineering.

Read our analysis of the China Subject Ratings

If you would like to discuss the results of the ratings, contact Sophia Li, THE’s regional director of Greater China, at Sophia.Li@timeshighereducation.com.