| # | University | City | World rank | In-country | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peking University | Beijing | #14 (2026) | #1 | 33,739,632 |
| 2 | Tsinghua University | Beijing | #20 (2026) | #2 | 34,588,111 |
| 3 | Fudan University | Shanghai | #30 (2026) | #3 | 20,882,516 |
| 4 | Shanghai Jiao Tong University | #47 (2026) | #4 | 29,201,804 | |
| 5 | Shanghai Jiaotong University | #47 (2026) | #5 | 29,201,804 | |
| 6 | Zhejiang University | Hangzhou | #49 (2026) | #6 | 30,818,064 |
| 7 | University of Science and Technology of China | #133 (2025) | #7 | 23,919,953 | |
| 8 | Nanjing University | #145 (2025) | #8 | 17,445,787 | |
| 9 | Tongji University | #177 (2026) | #9 | 11,085,055 | |
| 10 | Wuhan University | #186 (2026) | #10 | 17,827,004 | |
| 11 | Wuhan University School of Medicine | #186 (2026) | #11 | 17,827,004 | |
| 12 | Harbin Institute of Technology | #256 (2026) | #12 | 14,824,760 | |
| 13 | Beijing Institute of Technology | #259 (2026) | #13 | 8,255,578 | |
| 14 | Tianjin University | #269 (2025) | #14 | 12,956,870 | |
| 15 | Beijing Normal University | #271 (2025) | #15 | 6,885,590 | |
| 16 | Sun Yat-Sen University | #276 (2026) | #16 | 26,272,422 | |
| 17 | Huazhong University of Science and Technology | #300 (2025) | #17 | 24,597,870 | |
| 18 | Xi'an Jiaotong University | #305 (2026) | #18 | 13,796,861 | |
| 19 | Sichuan University | #324 (2026) | #19 | 20,746,649 | |
| 20 | Shandong University | #339 (2026) | #20 | 15,224,158 | |
| 21 | Xiamen University | #341 (2026) | #21 | 9,926,885 | |
| 22 | Nankai University | #355 (2026) | #22 | 10,392,118 | |
| 23 | South China University of Technology | #377 (2026) | #23 | 11,742,018 | |
| 24 | Southeast University | #392 (2026) | #24 | 9,801,714 | |
| 25 | East China Normal University | #433 (2026) | #25 | 5,399,972 | |
| 26 | Hunan University | #448 (2025) | #26 | 10,456,885 | |
| 27 | University of Electronic Science and Technology of China | #451 (2025) | #27 | 7,936,910 | |
| 28 | Shenzhen University | #452 (2026) | #28 | 6,156,637 | |
| 29 | Shanghai University | #465 (2026) | #29 | 5,337,419 | |
| 30 | University of Science and Technology Beijing | #480 (2026) | #30 | 6,627,140 | |
| 31 | Dalian University of Technology | #482 (2026) | #31 | 9,880,803 | |
| 32 | China Agricultural University | #484 (2025) | #32 | 9,330,084 | |
| 33 | Chongqing University | #489 (2025) | #33 | 8,610,219 | |
| 34 | Central South University | #491 (2026) | #34 | 19,547,780 | |
| 35 | Jilin University | #497 (2025) | #35 | 15,069,107 | |
| 36 | Northwest Polytechnical University Xi'an | #499 (2026) | #36 | 7,880,823 | |
| 37 | Nanjing University of Science and Technology | #565 (2025) | #37 | 4,914,658 | |
| 38 | Nanchang University | not ranked | #52 | 5,110,385 | |
| 39 | China University of Mining Technology - Xuzhou | not ranked | #59 | 4,752,152 | |
| 40 | China University of Geosciences Wuhan | not ranked | #68 | 4,088,424 | |
| 41 | Sichuan Agricultural University | not ranked | #75 | 3,766,841 | |
| 42 | Nanjing Forestry University | not ranked | #95 | 2,712,746 | |
| 43 | Shaanxi Normal University | not ranked | #99 | 2,612,323 | |
| 44 | Taiyuan University of Technology | not ranked | #101 | 2,531,021 | |
| 45 | Zhejiang Normal University | not ranked | #124 | 1,835,421 | |
| 46 | Hubei University | not ranked | #128 | 1,719,078 | |
| 47 | Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology | not ranked | #139 | 1,454,569 | |
| 48 | Fujian Normal University | not ranked | #142 | 1,409,601 | |
| 49 | Zhejiang Forestry University | not ranked | #150 | 1,240,641 | |
| 50 | Shenyang Agricultural University | not ranked | #162 | 981,782 |
What the two columns mean
In-country is the position the ranking record gives the university among those in its own country, and it is often the more useful number: a university ranked 480th in the world may still be third at home. It is carried over as published, so it does not always follow the order of the other two columns. World rank is the university's QS World University Rankings position. Citations are the number of times work published by the university has been cited, as recorded in OpenAlex; it is the measure used to order universities that QS does not rank at all.
The two do not always agree. A large research university can out-cite a smaller one that sits above it in QS, because QS weighs reputation surveys and staff ratios as well as research.