Several subjects taught at the University of Hong Kong, Peking University and Tsinghua University have been listed among the world’s top 10 by an international ranking released on Wednesday, making China a major winner in the Asia region.
The latest annual rankings released by UK-based publisher Times Higher Education (THE) cover 11 major subjects including arts and humanities, computer science, education, engineering, law, and life sciences.
The HKU placed seventh globally for education, making it the sole Hong Kong university with a subject in the world’s top 10.
The education subject of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and HKU’s medical and health has been placed 13th and 18th on respective global rankings.
Seven subjects provided by Peking University (PKU) and Tsinghua University (THU) entered the world’s top 10, including PKU’s computer science and THU’s physics, both ranked 10th globally.
The performance has helped the Chinese mainland take a lead in the Asia region, said THE.
Phil Baty, THE’s chief global affairs officer, said that this year's rankings proved that the global landscape of higher education and research is undergoing a transformation, with the traditional dominance of the West being challenged by the rapid rise of East Asia.
ALSO READ: Global ranking: 5 HK universities make top 100, all 8 hit new highs
HKU topped all other local universities in nine out of 11 rankings, including engineering, law and social sciences. In a written response, it promised to strive to become "a world-leading university transforming humanity’s future”.
All 11 subjects from CUHK are ranked among the global top 100, and four subjects are placed within the top 50, including education, medical and health, computer science, and business and economics.
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has both its computer science, and business and economics subjects ranked within the global top 30.
Notably, its computer science subject, which encompasses cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, software engineering and development, and cybersecurity and computer networks, has held the top position in Hong Kong for 10 consecutive years.
Other Hong Kong universities ranked include The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University.
Hong Kong’s Lingnan University entered the ranking for the first time.
The THE World University Rankings by Subject 2026 evaluated universities by 18 indicators grouped into five core pillars, namely teaching, research environment, research quality, international outlook, and industry.
READ MORE: Five HK universities enter world’s top 100, with HKU ranked record 11th
These indicators provide a comprehensive view of academic and research excellence worldwide, THE said.
