The Research School of Southeast Asian Studies (Nanyang Research Institute) was established at Xiamen University in 1956, making it China’s earliest research institution on Southeast Asia. The School devotes itself to the studies of politics, economy, international relations, history, and issues concerning ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. Based on the Institute, Center for Southeast Asian Studies was established in 2000, which is the only national research base on Southeast Asia under Ministry of Education in China.

During the initial decade, great achievements were made especially in the research on ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. With painstaking efforts in field study and extensive interviews with returned overseas Chinese, substantial materials on overseas Chinese investment and other forms of contacts in the Mainland and Chinese contract workers in Southeast Asia were collected.

Included in the 33 staff members are 24 researchers. In addition to the library, administrative office and translation office, the School has four Research Divisions. The Research Division on Politics and Economy puts its stress on economic, political and social issues in Southeast Asia, as well as economic development and cooperation in the Asia Pacific region. The Research Division on Overseas Chinese concentrates on the history and recent changes and development of ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. The main interest of the Research Division on History lies in the history of relations between China and Southeast Asia and history of Southeast Asia. The Division on International Relations concentrates on the study on international relations in the region and its relations with other parts of the world. The School also undertakes quite a number of research projects in social science studies at national and provincial levels. Moreover, it offers training programs for government officials and staff, and provides advisory services to various government departments and institutions.

In terms of degree programmes, the School offers three PhD programmes (history, world economy and international relations) and a total of 6 concentrations at the Master’s degree level: ASEAN economies, development economics, history of S.E. Asia, history of relations between China and S. E. Asia, history of overseas Chinese, international relations in S.E. Asia. It also has a undergraduate programme on international relations.

After 52 years of development, the library has accumulated an extensive collection of 40,000 volumes of books, 10,000 monographs on specific subjects, 10,000 bound periodicals and 20,000 bound newspapers. It is generally regarded as one of the best collection on S.E. Asia in China.

The School publishes two quarterly journals: Southeast Asian Affairs and Southeast Asian Studies (A Quarterly Journal of Translations). The former carries articles written mainly by Chinese researchers, while the latter carries translated foreign theses and systematic materials on S.E. Asia and the Asia Pacific.

Academic exchanges between the School and foreign academic institutions have increased significantly since the 1980s through exchanges of scholars and sponsorship of international academic conferences.

Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia Issue 10 (August 2008)