During an April 25 visit to one of China’s most prestigious universities, Renmin University in Beijing, Chinese leader Xi Jinping stressed that to build a world-class university with Chinese characteristics, “you cannot follow in others’ footsteps.” Shortly after, on May 6, Renmin University announced that it will no longer provide data to the relevant international institutions to participate in world university rankings.
Are Chinese Universities Withdrawing From International Rankings?
This was just the latest example of an ongoing trend: Chinese universities are increasingly withdrawing from international rankings. In recent years, both Peking University and Tsinghua University have ceased providing data for the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE) and QS World University Rankings. The same goes for Fudan University, which has stopped providing data to both organizations since 2017.Prior to that, China’s Nanjing University and Lanzhou University, also considered top-notch universities in China, also announced their withdrawal from the international university rankings system. Analysts believe that these are obvious signs of China’s further decoupling from the West under the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
