LONDON - Times Higher Education published its new world universities rankings Wednesday. Universities from the Chinese mainland climbed up with two edging into top 50.

Peking University creeps up one place to 45th, while Tsinghua University rises two places to joint 50th.

"Both universities improve their positions and edge closer to the best in the world. Both act as national flagship institutions, attracting global talent and inspiring others," said Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings.

Four other universities entered the list of top 300, namely the Fudan University, the University of Science and Technology of China, the Renmin University and the Nanjing University.

The Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Wuhan University of Technology, the Zhejiang University and the Sun Yat-sen University followed, bringing the total number of universities from the Chinese mainland on the top 400 list to 10.

The University of Hong Kong fell eight places to 43rd, but the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Chinese University of Hong Kong reached 57th and 109th.

Thirteen indicators across five areas have been taken into account, making this world rankings to examine the core missions of a modern global university that included research, teaching, knowledge transfer and international activity.

On top of the list is the California Institute of Technology as last year, followed by Harvard University and the University of Oxford as joint second. The University of Cambridge is the seventh. (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/)

Japan's University of Tokyo maintains its status as Asia's number one and moves up four places to 23rd. The National University of Singapore holds on to second place in the region, moving from 29th to 26th and overtaking Australia's University of Melbourne in the process.

There are 26 countries and regions in the world top 200 list.

The United States took seven of the top 10 places, with 77 institutions in top 200. Britain followed suit, with 31 universities in the top 200. The Netherland and Germany had 12 and 10 places respectively to secure the second and third positions in Europe.

But Baty noticed a trend of East Asian universities rising up. "More Asian institutions are nipping at the heels of the best in the West, increasingly occupying world top 50 places and showing no signs of letting up," he said.