Figure 1 shows total expenditures at what I call China’s Big 8 universities (which is actually just the C9 League of universities—that is, the Chinese equivalent of Canada’s U15, only even more elite—minus the Harbin Institute of Technology, which tends not to be as free with its financial data), in billions of 2024 RMB (nb. the data for 2023 and 2024 is based on budgetary estimates rather than financial statements). Two big takeaways here: The first is that Tsinghua University, despite the collapse of Tsinghua Unigroup, has maintained and even extended its financial lead over the rest of the Chinese higher education system and it now takes up about a quarter of all the C9 institutions’ spending. The second is that Peking University has been financially overtaken by both Shanghai Jiao Tong and Zhejiang University.

Figure 2: Change in Total Expenditures at China’s Big 8 Universities, 2020-24, in Billions of 2024 RMD

Figure 3: Change in income from Government at China’s Big 8 Universities, 2020-24, in Billions of 2024 RMD

Figure 4: Composition of Income at China’s Big 8 Universities, 2020-24, in Billions of 2024 RMD

Figure 5: Total Expenditures at China’s Big-8 Universities (2022) vs Select Canadian Universities (2021-22) in Billions of Canadian Dollars at Current Exchange Rates