ShanghaiRanking, a higher education consultancy, released the 2026 Best Chinese Universities list on Tuesday. Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Zhejiang University secured the top three positions in the comprehensive universities category.

This annual ranking, initiated in 2015, evaluates over 1,000 institutions that offer undergraduate courses across China. The institutions are assessed across categories, including comprehensive universities, eight specialized universities, and four private universities.

The main list for comprehensive universities features 590 institutions. Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Zhejiang University have retained the top three spots for the 12th consecutive year, while Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University are tied for fifth place.

Notably, 91 of the top 100 universities are classified as "Double First-Class" universities. Taiyuan University of Technology is a new addition to this group, having climbed six places from last year to 97th this year.

The ranking uses a detailed evaluation system with 10 modules, 35 dimensions, 104 indicators, and 398 variables.

"The ranking aims to reflect the core mission of Chinese universities today and meet the external expectations of their value. The two most important features of our ranking system are its emphasis on talent cultivation and focus on serving the nation," said Cheng Ying, founder of ShanghaiRanking.

To better meet the higher education evaluation expectations, ShanghaiRanking has refined the indicators used in this year's ranking.

This includes adding the newly introduced agricultural discipline certification to the national and certified program statistics. The research platform indicators have also been expanded to include various national and ministerial research platforms, such as the National Belt and Road Joint Laboratories, Ministry of Education regional and country research bases, and key laboratories from the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Other top universities in different specialized categories include Peking Union Medical College, which has maintained its top position among medical universities, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, which claims the top spot in Chinese medicine universities, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, which is ranked first among finance universities, Beijing Foreign Studies University, which leads the language university rankings, and China University of Political Science and Law, which secured the top position in the political science and law category.