The Xinhua News Agency reported that Guangzhou Daily Data and Digital Institute (GDDI) released the "2016 Guangzhou Daily First-class University Disciplines Ranking" on June 16, 2017, in which two disciplines of South-Central Minzu University (SCMU) were ranked into the top 50 nationwide, and the discipline of public management ranked 46th, crossing into the rank of high-level disciplines. The ranking evaluates 53 disciplines of 575 universities in China through four dimensions: scientific research index, talent cultivation index, discipline reputation index and secondary assessment index. According to the ranking, the top three universities with the number of world-class disciplines are Peking University, Zhejiang University and Tsinghua University. The ranking evaluates the disciplines by focusing on the outcome output orientation and not focusing too much on the input indicators. Therefore, on the basis of following the principle that data are easy to collect, collectable and authoritative, the four dimensions are also used as evaluation criteria through statistical analysis of discipline data of domestic universities from January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2015.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the QS World University Rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds, USNEWS University Rankings by U.S. News & World Report, and THE World University Rankings by Times Higher Education Supplement are considered as the three most influential rankings in the world at present. "Guangzhou Daily First-class University Disciplines Ranking” is also a pro bono ranking of university disciplines released by the media.

Translated by JiaXing Ding  Reviewed by ChangHua Chen