Chinese universities dominate the 2026 CSRankings, with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tsinghua University tied for first place, and Peking University becoming a legend in AI.

[Introduction] The former hegemon, CMU, has fallen from grace, while Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have jointly claimed the top spot in the world. Chinese universities have announced the arrival of a new era in computer science with a dominant performance!

Just now, the 2026 CSRankings global computer science rankings were officially released.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University has topped the list for the first time, tying with Tsinghua University for the first place globally!

Looking at the global Top 10, Chinese universities have taken 7 spots with a dominant performance.

Zhejiang University not only made it into the top three but also caught up with the former hegemon, CMU, tying with it for the third place.

Peking University tied with UIUC for the fifth place. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Nanjing University, and National University of Singapore tied for the seventh place. Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology held on to the tenth place.

Looking further down the list, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Science and Technology of China, and Fudan University are also firmly in the global Top 20.

Peking University Ranks First in AI Worldwide, Tsinghua University Rises to Second

If the overall ranking shows a close competition, then in the field of AI, China has a clear advantage.

65% of the top 20 globally are Chinese institutions.

The top 8 spots are completely dominated by Chinese institutions -

Peking University leads the way and takes the first place in the world. Tsinghua University follows closely behind. Zhejiang University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanjing University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Harbin Institute of Technology are lined up in order, showing a strong presence!

In contrast, the rankings of well - established foreign universities such as the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore, and Nanyang Technological University have all declined.

Even the "AI temple" in the United States, CMU, can only settle for the 14th place, and UIUC has dropped to the 18th place.

September 2025

As for European universities?

Sorry, there are no European universities in the Top 20.

Even the best - performing University of Edinburgh can only be found at the 26th place.

Rankings of Mainland Chinese Universities

When we focus on mainland China, the competition in the entire field of computer science is particularly fierce.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tsinghua University stand out and tie for the first place.

In the following Top 20, the first - tier includes Zhejiang University, Peking University, Nanjing University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Fudan University, Harbin Institute of Technology, and Renmin University of China.

In the second half of the list, Sun Yat - sen University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beihang University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen University, Wuhan University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xiamen University, and Xidian University have all made it onto the list.

If we focus on the AI field, the rankings have changed slightly:

Peking University firmly takes the first place; Tsinghua University and Zhejiang University rank second and third respectively.

In the Top 10 in the AI field, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Science and Technology of China, Nanjing University, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin Institute of Technology, Renmin University of China, and Fudan University still hold their ground firmly.

It is worth noting that University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sun Yat - sen University, Wuhan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Beihang University, Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Shenzhen University, Xiamen University, Tianjin University, and Xidian University have also successfully made it into the Top 20 through their in - depth research in the AI field.

In specific sub - technical fields, various universities have shown their unique strengths.

Artificial Intelligence: Nanjing University shows the profound heritage of an established institution and ranks first, followed by Zhejiang University and Harbin Institute of Technology.

Computer Vision: Peking University takes the lead, followed by Zhejiang University and Nanjing University.

Machine Learning: Tsinghua University takes the first place with a slight lead, and Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University rank second and third respectively.

Natural Language Processing: Harbin Institute of Technology tops the list, and Chinese Academy of Sciences and Peking University rank second and third respectively.

Web and Information Retrieval: Renmin University of China performs outstandingly and ranks first, followed by Tsinghua University and University of Science and Technology of China.

Explosion of CS Papers

Now let's look at the statistics of the number of papers published by Chinese universities in the AI field in the global CSRankings.

Peking University, ranked first, has the most papers in the fields of AI, vision, machine learning, and NLP. In particular, it has as many as 165 papers in the field of machine learning.

In terms of the number of papers published by faculty members, 13 faculty members at Peking University have published more than 10 papers in total. The one with the most papers is Zhang Shanghang with 19 papers. In addition, there are Zhang Ming (15), Yang Yaodong (14), Lu Zongqing (13), and Zhou Jiahuan (13).

Tsinghua University also has the largest proportion of papers in the field of machine learning (201 papers). In addition, it has more than 50 papers in the fields of NLP, AI, vision, and security.

It is also very prominent in the field of human - computer interaction (HCI).

Among the faculty members at Tsinghua University, 14 have published more than ten papers in total. Three senior scholars have published more than 20 papers each, namely Sun Maosong (27), Liu Zhiyuan (26), and Huang Minlie (22).

From the figure, we can clearly see that Zhejiang University has published a very large number of papers overall. It has the highest proportion of papers in the fields of AI and ML. In addition, it also has many papers in the fields of vision, NLP, and security.

At Zhejiang University, 12 faculty members have published more than ten papers in total. Five have published more than 20 papers, namely Zhao Zhou (27), Wu Fei (24), Yang Yi (21), Song Mingli (21), and Chen Huajun (20).