Which Chinese university produces the most billionaires? Which university boasts the most outstanding schoolfellow? For years, it has been a tight race between Tsinghua University and Peking University, with the ladder always maintaining a slight edge.

However, according to a new list of billionaire alumni from Chinese universities, released Monday by Chinese University Alumnus Association, Tsinghua University has finally gained an upper hand. The school boasted 84 billionaires in 30 years since the reform and opening up with a combined worth of 300 billion yuan (US$47.45 billion), surpassing Peking University for the first time.

Nonetheless, alumni from Peking University maintain a solid lead in terms of prestige. The school topped the list of 2012 Distinguished Alumni, producing 456 distinguished politicians, academic talents and businessmen since 1952. Tsinghua University ranked second with 292.

A total of 8,000 distinguished people participated in the survey, including over 1,400 politicians, over 3,600 scholars and over 2,600 business leaders.

The list also shows off Chinese universities' abilities in creating wealthy individuals. Among more than 800 Chinese billionaires with top educational backgrounds, Tsinghua University's 84 surpassed Peking University's 82. The combined worth of the billionaires on the list is 4.5 trillion yuan (US$711.7 billion).

Zhao Deguo, editor in chief of the alumni association said billionaire rankings by Forbes magazine, Hurun list and New Fortune magazine between 1999 and 2011 listed over 1,580 people with higher education backgrounds, accounting for 61 percent of all listed billionaires.

Zhao said that talent cultivation has gotten on the right track since China re-established the college entrance examination system in 1977. Under the environment of respecting knowledge and talents in 1978, capable individuals have consistently stood out from the rest. According to the new list, many who participated in those exams have become the salt of the earth in scientific fields.

(China.org.cn by Lu Na May 18, 2012)

国内哪所大学造就的亿万富豪校友最多？谁又是培养杰出校友最多的高校？在这个问题上，很多年来清华大学和北京大学都难分胜负，而通常北大略占优势。

然而，中国校友会网周一发布的《2012中国大学杰出校友排行榜》显示，自改革开放30多年来，清华大学培养和造就了84名亿万富豪校友，校友财富合计近3000亿元，首次超越北大成为中国造富大学排行榜冠军。

尽管如此，以校友名望论，北京大学的地位依旧不可动摇。《2012中国大学杰出校友排行榜》总榜单仍是北京大学居首，1952年（含）以后毕业于北京大学的政学商界杰出人才最多，有456人。其次是清华大学，有292人，名列第二。

这次新公布的榜单共调研了我国各领域杰出人才合计近8000人。其中，政界杰出人才1400多人，学界杰出人才3600多人，此外还有商界杰出人才2600多人。

该榜单同时显示了中国大学的“造富职能”。2011年上榜的拥有高等教育背景的亿万富豪有800多人，财富合计约4.5万亿元。其中，清华大学培养和造就的亿万富豪校友最多，有84名；北京大学有82人，名列第二。

据中国校友会网总编赵德国介绍，在1999至2011年间福布斯、胡润、新财富等中国富豪榜上榜的亿万富豪中，拥有高等教育背景的“知本富豪”有1580多人，约占全部亿万富豪总数的61%。

据赵德国介绍，1977年，我国恢复了高考制度，高等院校的人才培养工作重新走上正轨。特别是自1978年以来，在“尊重知识、尊重人才”的大环境下，优秀人才不断涌现。这次的排行榜显示，1977年恢复高考后的几届考生已成为或正在成长为我国科技领域的中流砥柱。