Rater accused of taking bribes

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-24 10:00

Wu Shulian, lead author of a popular China university ranking system, was reported by People's Daily on May 5 to have taken brides in 2004 and 2006.

Wu heads a China university evaluation research team and is a researcher at Guangdong academy of management science, a Shenzhen private ranking agency. The research team has published China's University Rankings annually since 2001.

It ranks the top 100 universities in China and also organizes universities according to their majors in arts and science. It was revealed that Wu had been invited to give lectures at Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT) in 2004 and 2006.

He was also "sponsored" with tens of thousands of yuan by CDUT in both years to help improve the ranking system in China. CDUT's ranking jumped from 116th place in 2004 to 92nd in 2007, before falling to 103rd this year.

An employee, whose name was not revealed by the newspaper, said: "Wu asked for the money, saying it was for the development of the ranking system in China."

Wu responded through his blog in May, saying that he offered a paid consulting service to the university. He also said that it's very important for him to contact universities in person because he could observe them closely.

No charges against Wu were ever made.

METRO