Chinese universities have made strong inroads in the Asia University Rankings 2018, taking five of the top ten places in the Times Higher Education report.

In the ranking of more than 350 Asian universities, China claims almost one fifth of the entries.

For the first time in the list's six-year history, Tsinghua University is China's top-ranked institution, following across-the-board improvements on its teaching, research, citation impact, international outlook and knowledge transfer.

It comes second in the overall rankings, behind the National University of Singapore. Peking University drops one place to third.

Phil Baty, editorial director of global rankings at Times Higher Education, said "China's performance in the Times Higher Education rankings consistently improves year-on-year and 2018 is no exception. The results show that more than two decades of focused investment in excellence is paying off ."

Of the top 10 universities in Asia, five come from China, three of which are from Hong Kong, including University of Hong Kong (4th), Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (joint 5th), and Chinese University of Hong Kong (7th).

Nanjing University has climbed eight places to 17th, Tongji University has jumped eight places to 53rd, and Harbin Institute of Technology has risen 15 places to 62nd.

However, it is not just China's elite universities that are registering improvements in performance; many institutions outside the top 100 have also upped their game.

The report said overall, universities from the Chinese mainland have received a large boost in their citation impact score and can boast high levels of industry income.

"Taiwan has suffered decline as it grapples with an ageing population and oversupply of higher education," said Baty, with National Taiwan University being its top-ranked establishment, slipping down two places to 26th.

Elsewhere in Asia, only two Japanese institutions appear in the top 20 despite the country's strong representation overall, with 89 universities ranked－a quarter of the top 350 list. South Korea is better-represented in the higher ranks, having five institutions in the top 20.

However, many Asian nations are feeling the competition. While India, Pakistan and Turkey have all increased their overall representation, several of their universities have fallen down the list.

"These countries will need to work hard to stand out among the heavy competition in the world's largest continent," Baty added.