Universities from the United States dominate this year's list, with 200 universities among the top 1,000, 129 of which are in the top 500 and 40 are in the top 100. The United Kingdom has 65 universities in the list, with 38 in the top 500 and eight in the top 100.

Based on the previous ARWU rankings, published annually since 2003, Chinese universities have been making steady advances in terms of international placement, showing marked improvements, especially since 2015.

In 2003, no university from the Chinese mainland made the top 200, and only nine universities appeared in the top 500.

From 2003 to 2015, that number has been increasing, but it wasn't until 2016 that two universities from the Chinese mainland, Tsinghua University and Peking University, entered the world's top 100 for the first time.

This year's ranking notes that the majority of Chinese universities listed are supported by the national Double First-Class initiative, aiming to develop world-class universities and first-class disciplines.

A general plan proposing the phased goals for the project was first issued in 2015 by the State Council, China's Cabinet.

The project was put into motion in 2017 and the Ministry of Education, along with two other governmental entities, released a list of higher education institutions and disciplines to participate in the project.