China has overtaken Japan as Asia's No 1 nation for world-class universities, according to the Asia University Rankings 2015 published on Wednesday by Times Higher Education, a weekly magazine published in the UK.

Twenty-one universities from the Chinese mainland appear in the top 100, up from 18 last year, with Peking University taking fourth place and Tsinghua University one place behind.

China's special administrative regions also do well, with six universities from Hong Kong - including two in the top 10 - and one from Macao in the top 50.