Two Hong Kong universities and the National University of Singapore, or NUS, share the three leading positions in the QS University Rankings.

Only one Chinese university – Peking – appears in the top 10, up one place to fifth, its highest ever position.

Korean institutions take three places in the top 10: Seoul National University (fourth), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (sixth) and Pohang University of Science and Technology (seventh, equal with the Chinese University of Hong Kong).

Two Japanese universities make the top 10: the University of Tokyo (down one place to ninth) and Kyoto University (10th, equal with a second Singaporean university, Nanyang Technological University, which is up from number 17 last year).

In a complementary ranking, QS Top 50 under 50, which ranks universities established since 1963, Asia has five of the world’s top six young institutions, which QS researchers suggest is a “forecast of a future realignment of the global balance of power from West to East”.