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🎓 Top Research Universities in China

Universities and colleges in China ranked by the total citations their research has received (OpenAlex).

📅 2026📏 citations50 entries🇨🇳 See all of this country’s rankings →
Every dot is one entry, placed by its value (citations); the vertical bar marks each row’s median.
1
Tsinghua University387,870 papers
34,967,978
2
Zhejiang University425,764 papers
34,861,877
3
Shanghai Jiao Tong University414,686 papers
33,264,272
4
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences394,293 papers
31,299,260
5
Peking University326,343 papers
29,709,631
6
Fudan University275,077 papers
25,269,519
7
Huazhong University of Science and Technology271,499 papers
24,951,126
8
University of Science and Technology of China215,983 papers
24,186,458
9
Sun Yat-sen University250,963 papers
21,121,340
10
Sichuan University250,985 papers
20,059,935
11
Nanjing University207,872 papers
18,702,979
12
Central South University222,139 papers
17,695,801
13
Shandong University218,578 papers
16,574,223
14
Wuhan University199,424 papers
15,256,767
15
Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College170,298 papers
15,244,468
16
Xi'an Jiaotong University225,006 papers
15,170,409
17
Jilin University181,392 papers
14,979,835
18
Harbin Institute of Technology228,036 papers
14,847,386
19
Tianjin University175,444 papers
13,179,631
20
Tongji University206,671 papers
12,116,860
21
South China University of Technology152,405 papers
11,716,426
22
Southeast University193,898 papers
10,725,494
23
Xiamen University123,311 papers
10,369,632
24
Nankai University112,616 papers
10,330,334
25
Hunan University96,015 papers
10,222,578
26
Soochow University112,513 papers
10,214,124
27
Dalian University of Technology137,034 papers
9,838,701
28
Capital Medical University143,824 papers
9,507,470
29
China Agricultural University92,723 papers
9,196,823
30
Zhengzhou University135,356 papers
8,496,292
31
Chongqing University137,291 papers
8,296,888
32
Beijing Institute of Technology143,191 papers
8,267,497
33
Beihang University157,014 papers
8,207,933
34
University of Electronic Science and Technology of China149,395 papers
8,032,385
35
Northwestern Polytechnical University143,140 papers
7,887,067
36
Lanzhou University101,981 papers
7,582,417
37
Nanjing Medical University101,940 papers
7,505,384
38
Jiangsu University89,604 papers
7,218,370
39
Northwest A&F University63,319 papers
7,041,680
40
Nanjing Agricultural University64,765 papers
6,964,008
41
Southern Medical University94,408 papers
6,779,157
42
Beijing Normal University115,401 papers
6,698,323
43
Huazhong Agricultural University57,156 papers
6,627,980
44
Shenzhen University98,082 papers
6,622,444
45
University of Science and Technology Beijing100,199 papers
6,511,870
46
East China University of Science and Technology70,564 papers
6,488,785
47
Wuhan University of Technology92,459 papers
6,226,242
48
Beijing University of Chemical Technology55,082 papers
6,117,104
49
Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University53,415 papers
5,838,973
50
Jiangnan University74,918 papers
5,748,117

Highlights

Within China, Tsinghua University ranks first in 2026 with 34,967,978, followed by Zhejiang University (34,861,877) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (33,264,272).

The top two are virtually level: Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University differ by less than 1%.

Across 50 entries, values run from 34,967,978 (Tsinghua University) to 5,748,117 (Jiangnan University), with a median of 10,218,351.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers, 2026. Unit: citations.

Source: OpenAlex, citations received by each institution's papers · CC0 1.0 (OpenAlex) · fetched Oct 13, 2026 — Counts every citation to papers by authors affiliated with the institution, so large and old universities score high. It measures research impact, not teaching quality.