Mainland China’ ince the establishment of the first Southeast Asian research institute in 1956–Center for Southeast Asian Studies of Xiamen University, there are now 34 research institutes on Southeast Asian Studies in Chinese mainland, mainly distributed in Beijing and four Southern provinces, like Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Yunnan. These research institutes focus on areas like politics and state-to-state relationship, economy and culture, history and the status quo, as well as the overseas Chinese in Southeast Asian countries. The existing layout and research results of the research institutes on Southeast Asia in Mainland China are conducive to the establishment of sub-regional cooperation between the local government and Southeast Asian countries, provide intellectual support for government decision-making, and open the way for the follow-up development of the “Belt and Road” initiative.