China's Academic Revolution: Five Universities Break Into Global Top 40, Catching Up to Western Giants

China achieves historic milestone with five universities in global top 40, up from three in 2025. Tsinghua (12th) and Peking (13th) rose from 47th and 42nd decade ago. Zhejiang jumps to 39th, Shanghai Jiao Tong to 40th, both cracking elite tier. China places 35 in top 500, scores perfectly on research income, patents, industry links. TIME analysis shows China "catching up in innovation" while 62 US universities decline.