The 2020 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the 18th annual report, was released on Aug 15 by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy.

The ARWU is regarded as one of the three most influential university rankings in the world, alongside the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

The ARWU lists the top 1,000 universities worldwide. This year's list included 144 universities located on the Chinese mainland, an increase of more than 40 compared to last year.

Six Chinese universities were among the top 100: Tsinghua University (29th), Peking University (49th), Zhejiang University (58th), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (63rd), University of Science and Technology of China (73rd), and Fudan University (100th).

The ranking is widely praised for its objectivity and the transparency of its methodology. Its four criteria include quality of education, quality of faculty, research output and per capita performance. The six indicators used include number of alumni or members of staff who have won the Nobel Prize and Fields Medal, quantity of articles published in the Nature and Science journals, number of highly-cited researchers, articles published in leading publications and performance per capita.

Zhejiang University (ZJU) is based in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. It has been listed among the top 100 on the ARWU list for three consecutive years, behind only Tsinghua University and Peking University among all Chinese universities.

ZJU ranked 53rd in the QS World University Rankings 2021, which was released in June. 

The latest edition of admission letters to Zhejiang University. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]