This rise has been driven largely by an increase in research, as measured by citations, particularly during the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic<\/a>, and China\u2019s average citations score has increased from 41.1 in 2019 to an impressive 55.6. Chinese institutions also score well in terms of industrial collaboration.<\/p>\n \u201cChinese Universities are climbing up the global rankings year on year,\u201d says Thomas Clayburn, CBBC\u2019s Education Sector<\/a> Lead. \u201cThis rise has been particularly noticeable since 2015, when China\u2019s Ministry of Education initiated the Double First-Class university development plan, which now lists 147 participating universities.\u201d The development plan was an initiative selecting universities to be developed into first-class educational institutions, and prominent programmes to be elevated in quality to become classed as \u2018first rate\u2019.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, a lack of internationalisation is still holding Chinese universities back, with all four measures of internationalism (including number of foreign students and staff) in the THE ranking declining. Others (including BBC China Correspondent Stephen McDonell) have cast doubt on China\u2019s place in global rankings considering the control of information in subjects like history and politics in China.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/lp-education.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nWhat is driving China\u2019s rise up the rankings?<\/strong><\/h4>\n