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Professor Yang from BIT also believes that the enlargement of universities has corrupted their quality. He said Chinese education authorities have realized the seriousness of this problem and have started to formulate policies to redress the trend. The Ministry of Education announced in a June press conference that no university is allowed to raise its tuition or accommodation fees over a period of five years from the fall semester 2006.
Professor Ding said a world top university must meet all three standards of excellent facilities, institutions and spirit. He elaborated that the third standard of spirit is the spirit of universalism, which is reflected by three aspects. First is the diversification of the teaching staff's backgrounds and nationalities. Second is the diversification of students' nationalities, temperaments and specialties. Third is that curriculum designing and teaching methods must be universal and up to international standards.
"At the current stage Chinese universities lack this universalism spirit," said Ding.
Professor Yang believes that institutional loopholes have greatly hindered Chinese universities' pursuit for excellence. "University is the product of civilized institutions, thus money is not the main problem," he said. He went on further to refute the idea that lack of capital is to blame for the absence of world top universities in China. Instead, he believes what universities lack most now is a spirit of independence.
Professor Yang explained that a university is essentially a self-governing body of scholars, which is the core of the modern education system. However, the administration of Chinese universities is painted with strong ideological colors and essentially administrator-centered. He said he knew due to the low status of scholars in universities, some young scholars have given up their promising academic career to compete for heading the logistics department of their universities.
Yang compared China's higher education institutions to pre-reform state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the 1980s. "The reform of SOEs, which has made them players in the market economy that manage their operations, has greatly contributed to the rapid economic growth of China. Yet China's higher education has so far not experienced a similar reform, which has resulted in its lasting backwardness," he said. He added that the current education system has mistakenly let education authorities rather than educators play the central role.
Yang said universities' lack of self-governing power has led to the lack of an incentive system for the leadership of universities. Thus some university presidents and principals only care about the education authorities' evaluation of them in the short-term, rather than really concentrating on building up their university comprehensively.
Professor Ding pointed out, "If a university is administrated and controlled by professional administrators, who can call the shots in the promotion of lecturers and discipline development of different departments, this is a university with no future."
Initiatives
Some education experts believe the key to creating first-class universities in China is a transition from an administrator-dominated system to a scholar-dominated one. In the process, two problems must be addressed. The first is how to maintain the independent operation of universities. Second is how to create transparent, fair and strict rules on hiring teaching staff and evaluating their academic performance.
A handful of Chinese universities have already begun to reform in this direction. For example, Tsinghua University has put forward a policy of inviting scholars and professors to play a more active role in the university's administration.
Professor Yan Xuyang, head of Canvard Institute of Beijing Technology and Business University, suggested that China should take the emphasis off world university rankings as such rampant ambition could in fact prove detrimental to reaching the goal of improvement.
Yang of BIT is also pessimistic about China's ambition to build world-class universities. He thinks the most urgent task is to recover the true essence of universities.
Boao Forum for Asia Executive Director Yao Wang suggests three areas for development. First, the study of Chinese culture and tradition must be cherished and developed.
Secondly, universities should seek breakthroughs in small areas. For example, China doesn't have a top-ranking business school, but Chinese universities can build a first-rate case reservoir since China's economic growth has spurred many economic miracles. Having a top-notch case reservoir can be the first step toward building an excellent business school.
Thirdly, China should map out goals for different periods and move toward these goals step by step. For instance, before building world top-ranking universities, China must start by building universities that rank top in the developing world.
University Ranking on Comprehensive Strength 2007
Tsinghua University
Peking University
Zhejiang University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Nanjing University
Fudan University
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Wuhan University
Jilin University
Xi'an Jiaotong University
University Ranking on Natural Sciences 2007
Tsinghua University
Zhejiang University
Peking University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Nanjing University
Fudan University
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
University of Science and Technology of China
Harbin Institute of Technology
Sun Yat-sen University
University Ranking on Social Sciences 2007
Peking University
Renmin University of China
Fudan University
Nanjing University
Tsinghua University
Beijing Normal University
Zhejiang University
Wuhan University
Nankai University
Xiamen University
University Ranking on Engineering Sciences 2007
Tsinghua University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Zhejiang University
Harbin Institute of Technology
Tianjin University
Huazhong University of Science and Technology
Xi'an Jiaotong University
Beihang University
Northwestern Polytechnical University
South China University of Technology
Law School Ranking 2007
Peking University
Renmin University of China
Wuhan University
Tsinghua University
China University of Political Science and Law
Jilin University
Fudan University
Southwest University of Political Science and Law
Zhongnan University of Economics and Law
Zhejiang University
(Source: University appraisal team of China Academy of Management Science) | 
