LONDON, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Times Higher Education (THE) on Wednesday reveals its World Reputation Rankings 2018, in which Chinese mainland claims 6 of world's 100 most prestigious universities, while China's Hong Kong and Taiwan have 3 and 1 universities in the rankings respectively.

The Chinese mainland has six institutions in the Top 100 (the same number as last year) and two in the Top 20.

Tsinghua University and Peking University are in 14th and 17th place respectively, both equaling their 2017 positions. The other four universities from Chinese Mainland that make into the top 100 are Zhejiang University, Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

On China's performance, THE's Editorial Director of Global Rankings Phil Baty said: "It seems that China's relentless march up the global league tables has stalled -- at least when it comes to the international prestige of its universities. After making major gains in recent years, both China's top two universities, Peking and Tsinghua, have held steady this year, while other stars from mainland China have slipped.

"There is no cause for alarm -- continued investment built upon decades of spending, alongside increased internationalization in Chinese higher education will no doubt ensure China's universities continue to strengthen. However, this new data shows just how hard it is for emerging powers to break into the traditional global elite," he said.

The annual list, compiled from a globally representative survey of more than 10,000 senior academics, highlights the Top 100 most powerful global university brands. The table's Top 20 comprises 13 American universities, four from the UK, two from China and one from Japan.

The United States continues to dominate, with Harvard University taking the top spot for the eighth consecutive year, and 43 other US institutions making the Top 100.

Europe claims 33 spots in total -- with the UK, Germany and Netherlands most well-represented. The Asia-Pacific sees 23 institutions placed across the Top 100, with China and Japan most strongly represented.

Meanwhile, India features in the table for the first time since 2011, with its flagship institution, the Indian Institute of Science, making the 91-100 banding.

According to THE, its World Reputation Rankings are created using the world's largest invitation-only academic opinion survey -- a unique piece of research. The 2018 rankings are based on a more than 10,000-strong survey carried out between January 2018 and March 2018.

The Academic Reputation Survey, available in 15 languages, uses United Nations data as a guide to ensure that the response coverage is as representative of world scholarship as possible. It is also evenly spread across academic disciplines.