CANBERRA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- An international survey has ranked six Australian universities in the world's top 100.
The Times Higher Education (THE) rankings for 2017, released on Wednesday, rated 1,000 institutions from 77 countries and regions on teaching, research, citations, outlook and income.
The University of Melbourne was rated Australia's best - and the 32nd best university in the world - followed by the Australian National University (48), the University of Sydney (61), University of Queensland (65), Monash University (80) and University of New South Wales (85).
All of the Australian universities within the top 100 fell between one and seven places from last year's ranking with the exception of the University of Melbourne which moved up one place.
China was the biggest-improving nation with two institutions in the top 30 for the first time.
"There are, however, Western nations that appear to be keeping pace with the improvements seen in Asia," Simon Baker, THE's data editor, said on Wednesday.
"Australia, for instance, has recorded an impressive change in average overall score, fuelled by a solid citations and research productivity performance. The country seems to have been held back only by falling reputation scores for its universities."
In releasing its latest survey, the THE editors noted the continued rise of China's institutions in the rankings.
"The Asian giant is now home to two universities in the top 30: Peking and Tsinghua. The Beijing duo now outrank several prestigious institutions in Europe and the US. Meanwhile, almost all Chinese universities have improved, signalling that the country's commitments to investment has bolstered results year-on-year," wrote the survey's authors.
Simon Birmingham, Australia's Education Minister, said he was encouraged by the latest results which confirmed that Australian universities were punching "above their weight on the international stage."
"In a competitive world Australia and our universities cannot rest on their laurels," Birmingham said in a media release on Wednesday.
"We need to adapt and respond to student needs and ensure our universities are set up for the future."
Australian universities heavily rely on Chinese students, with 30 percent of all international students studying in Australia coming from China.
"As China's higher education system improves there is a possibility that many Chinese students will choose to remain in the country for their university education, rather than travel to an institution abroad," Phil Baty, editor of the rankings, said.
Speaking to Australian media on Wednesday, Baty said: "Australia is not the only nation that is being overtaken by Asia in the rankings.
"Several universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe have also been outranked by Asian institutions in this year's table. In many cases this is due to a boost in Asian universities' reputation for teaching and research."
