The Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Chongqing Technology and Business University is a regional and country-specific research center registered with the Ministry of Education. The center includes the Southeast Asian Investment and Trade Institute, the Southeast Asian Finance Institute, and the Southeast Asian Cross-Cultural Management Institute. The center focuses on research related to Southeast Asia and the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI), aiming to engage in long-term strategic research on “Belt and Road” and Southeast Asian countries. Annually, the center releases the trade competitiveness index, trade complementarity index, import and export structure index, comparative advantage index, industry catalog. It also releases trade and investment data maps, and trade and investment development reports, and studies free trade agreements and policies between China and BRI countries, providing decision-making references for relevant government departments and consulting services for the construction of an inland open highland in Chongqing.

The center has gathered a group of influential Southeast Asian research experts from both domestic and international spheres, including leading figures in the field of economics under the national “Thousand Talents Program”. The center is oriented towards serving decision-making, with many achievements receiving positive instructions from provincial and ministerial leaders and being applied in practice. Adhering to theoretical guidance, the center leads a series of major national research projects, and has published a series of theoretical outcomes. Currently, the center has attained fruitful research results and significant social influence. Among them, the trade competitiveness and complementarity index has been released on the largest database in China, the CCER Economic and Financial Database. The center has established a mechanism for continuously releasing research results on Xinhua News Agency and related international forums. In recent years, the center’s research outcomes have been reported and interviewed nearly 200 times by media outlets such as the People’s Daily, Guangming Daily, Economic Daily, China Central Radio, Chongqing Daily, Hualong Net, Xinhua Net, and Chongqing Times.