The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Sun Yat-sen University is one of the first research institutions founded for Southeast Asian studies and Overseas Chinese studies in China. It started in 1959, as an affiliated part of the History Department. It was expanded into an independent academic organization in the university in 1978 and now subordinated to the School of Asia Pacific Studies of the University

The research activities of the Institute are oriented in 4 areas: history of  Southeast Asian countries and their relations with China, contemporary political and security relations in Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific, economic and cultural developments in the region and ethnic Chinese issues.

In the past few years, the Institute has completed a number of research projects and has published 40 books, monographs and translations, among which, Modern History of Southeast Asia, Modern History of Sino-Southeast Asia Relations, History of Ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia After World War II, Southeast Asian Religions and its Political Impacts, ASEAN Foreign Relations, Contemporary Politics and Diplomacy in Southeast Asia, Cooperation between China and Southeast Asia on Regional Governance are widely considered high quality works.

    The Institute has been approved by the Ministry of Education to set up Ph.D.-level training programs in the field of World History and M.A.-level training programs in the field of International Relations. It enrolls post-graduates each year to study history of Southeast Asia, history of China-Southeast Asian relations, contemporary political and security relations in Southeast Asia and ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. Eligible graduates from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and all other countries are also welcome to join the training programs.

    The Institute has its own library with over 12000 volumes and quite a number of newspapers and periodicals on area studies. It also provides computer data and Internet facilities.

The Institute has established extensive academic exchanges and cooperation with many universities and research institutions which share common interest, with the purpose of promoting better understanding and relations between China and the neighboring countries. It includes exchanges of visiting scholars, books and documents, research information and jointly holding international conferences. The conferences held by the Institute include International Relations of the Asia Pacific Region After 9.11 (2002), and The Asia Beyond Cold War (2007).

    The foreign institutions which keep close academic relations with the Institute are: American Ethnic Chinese History Society, Griffith University of Australia, National University of Singapore, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Singapore, East Asian Institute of Singapore, Nanyang Society of Singapore, Institute of Asian Studies of Chulalongkorn University, Institute of East Asian Studies of Thammasat University, Asian Center of University of the Philippines, National Center for Social and Human Sciences of Vietnam, Vietnam National University, etc..

The Institute’s academic activities have also gotten financial support from Fulbright Foundation, Ford Foundation, Lingnan Foundation and Toyota Foundation.

Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia Issue 10 (August 2008)