Editor’s note: The following article was translated and edited from an article which was first published in the Guangzhou Daily. The article discusses a recently published report ranking the top Chinese universities in terms of the number of "Outstanding Alumni" (which is only vaguely explained in the article) and more concretely in terms of the number of billionaire (RMB) alumni these universities have produced.

There's a lot of talk these days about wealth in China, with a strong emphasis on how millionaires spend their earnings and how they got rich in the first place (not to mention questions about the legality of their earnings). Truly, you can't walk around a major city in China for five minutes without seeing some sort of extravagant show of wealth. Yet one element of the rapid wealth phenomenon that hasn't been discussed much is these individuals’ education backgrounds. Granted, in this global era, where living, studying or working abroad has turned into the ultimate status symbol, the broad answer to this question is likely to contain the "Harvards" and "Cambridges" of this world. But what about universities right here in China? Surely domestic institutions have played a large role over the past 30 years in fostering a new generation of "super-wealthy". With this in mind, one might ask the question, which Chinese universities boast the most billionaire (RMB) alumni? Luckily, this pressing question was recently answered, in the form of the recently released "2012 Chinese University Outstanding Alumni List". And not surprisingly, perched at the top of this list are China's two flagship universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University.

China's top universities in terms of "outstanding alumni"

In compiling this list, the researchers at the China Alumni Network deemed 8,000 alumni currently working in China's political, academic and business circles as "outstanding". More precisely, of the 8,000 individuals, more than 1,400 are politicians, while 3,600 are academics (2,400 are academics and 1,200 are scientists) and 2,600 are in business. Peking University came out on top, with 456 "outstanding alumni" since 1952. Tsinghua University is ranked second, with 292 "outstanding alumni", while Renmin University of China is ranked third, with 222 "outstanding alumni". Ending Beijing's sweep of the top three, Fudan University in Shanghai came in fourth, with 210 "outstanding alumni". Meanwhile, the fifth through tenth ranked universities are much more evenly spread out throughout the rest of China (see table below).

"Wealth creation" feature of Chinese universities

Official statistics show that during China's reform and opening up, a "wealth creation" function gradually became a prominent feature of Chinese universities, with more than 1,500 billionaires (RMB) graduating from domestic educational institutions in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, according to the research findings of the "2012 Chinese University Outstanding Alumni List", as of 2011, more than 800 of the 8,000 individuals listed were billionaires (RMB), with a combined wealth of approximately 4.5 trillion RMB.

According to Zhao Deguo, the editor-in-chief at the China Alumni Network, since 1999 more than 1,580  "Knowledge Wealthy" (知本富豪) – individuals  with a strong background in higher education – were included in the annual rankings of Chinese billionaires (RMB) conducted by Forbes, Hurun and New Fortune. In total, these "Knowledge Wealthy" individuals account for approximately 60.89% of the total number of Chinese billionaires (RMB).

Tsinghua tops Peking in total number of billionaire alumni

According to research conducted by China Alumni Network, Tsinghua University is said to have fostered 84 billionaire (RMB) alumni, worth nearly 300 billion RMB in total. Ranked second on the list in terms of number of "outstanding alumni", Tsinghua nevertheless (barely) surpassed the top ranked Peking University in terms of number of billionaire alumni, who itself boasts 82. Claiming responsibility for one in every ten Chinese billionaire (RMB), it's no small wonder that these two universities have become known as China's "cradle of billionaires" (中国"亿万富豪摇篮") by the rest of the world.

According to Zhao Deguo, China resumed the college entrance examination system (commonly referred to as the "gaokao") in 1977, and after the reform and opening up policy was implemented in 1978, the motto "Value Knowledge, Value Talent" became rather prominent. But what this official jargon meant in real terms is that the multitude of individuals who had previously been suppressed for a long period of time were finally liberated, resulting in a wave of talented individuals that has continued to this day.

Below is a full listing of the top ten Chinese Universities.

2012 China University Outstanding Alumni – Top Ten

Rank	Name of School	Location (Province or Municipality)	"Outstanding" Politicians	"Outstanding" Academics	"Outstanding" Scientists	Number of Billionaires	Total Number of Alumni
1	Peking University	Beijing	48	144	182	82	456
2	Tsinghua University	Beijing	49	141	18	84	292
3	Renmin University of China	Beijing	37	1	154	30	222
4	Fudan University	Shanghai	21	83	60	46	210
5	Nanjing University	Jiangsu	10	63	48	21	142
6	Zhejiang University	Zhejiang	9	37	19	66	131
7	Jilin University	Jilin	29	30	38	8	105
8	Wuhan University	Hubei	3	28	56	18	105
9	Harbin Institute of Technology	Heilongjiang	18	52	3	15	88
10	Shanghai Jiaotong University	Shanghai	12	40	2	25	79

Source: china.rednet.cn
 

Related links
Wealthy Chinese: Who Are They? Where Does Their Money Come From?
A "Who's-Who" of Influential Business Leaders in China
Lavish Living: Tracking the Consumer Habits of Wealthy Chinese

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Keywords: Top Chinese universities educational background of Chinese billionaires Outstanding Alumni List China