QS World University Rankings released the newest list of world university rankings on Sept. 8, and four Chinese universities, including University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chinese University of Hong Kong and Peking University, are on the top 50.

The QS ranking, which has a high authoritative weight, is based on the quality of a college's research, administrators' evaluations, the output of authoritative research papers as well as the international makeup of the faculty and students.

On this year's list, Cambridge University ranks first, followed by Harvard and Yale. The University of Hong Kong ranked 23rd, which is the highest among Asian Universities, and it outranked Tokyo University for the first time.

Peking University ranked 47th, up five positions from last year, while Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ranked 40th, moving down five places, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong ranked 42nd.

In addition, Tsinghua University and Taiwan University rank 54th and 94th respectively within the top 100.

By Wang Hanlu, People's Daily Online, September 09, 2010